What the Cast of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Looks Like in Real Life

The role of Offred/June Osborne earned Elisabeth Moss several awards following season 1, including the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama and the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. In season 2, Elisabeth told TV Insider that finding the real meaning of freedom is a large part of June’s story. “Maybe you have to find it in unexpected ways. What is the resistance? Perhaps it’s not what you thought it would be. Sometimes, rather than run away from something, you have to change it from the inside.”

To the delight of Alexis Bledel fans, Emily’s story is far from over. Season 2’s powerful second episode, “Unwomen,” found Alexis’s character in the Colonies, radioactive wastelands where women literally go to perish. Die-hard Gilmore Girls fans definitely won’t find Luke’s or the comfort of Lorelai or Emily Gilmore here. If you’ve ever wanted to imagine what the opposite of Stars Hollow is, the Colonies are a safe bet.

Not long after her work on Orange Is the New Black ended, Samira Wiley took on the role of Moira, June’s BFF who successfully escapes Gilead and makes it to Canada, where she’s reunited with June’s husband, Luke. “In Toronto, Canada, where she’s escaped, we’ll see not only the strong Moira that we’ve become so used to but also a person who is trying to acclimate to this new world,” Samira told the Huffington Post ahead of season 2. “She goes through different struggles in Canada, and I think it’s very important and interesting to explore all of those sides of this woman.”

Madeline Brewer also made the journey from Litchfield to Gilead to portray Janine, a character who’s suffered a myriad of tragedies: She lost an eye, she had a baby but gave her child to the Putnams as per Gilead rules, she was on the verge of getting stoned by her fellow Handmaids, and she went to the Colonies. Bleak.

For more than three decades, Ann Dowd has graced audiences with her talents onstage, in TV, and in movies. Her vast résumé includes Law & Order, The X-Files, NYPD Blue, The Leftovers, and films like The Manchurian Candidate, Captain Fantastic, and Collateral Beauty. Following season 1 of The Handmaid’s Tale, Ann won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for playing Aunt Lydia. “Well, I think this is a dream,” she said in her acceptance speech. “I know it’s an actor’s dream and I’m deeply grateful to you. I don’t have the words, so I thank you.”

Max Minghella, son of the late director Anthony Minghella, has appeared in films like The Social Network and The Internship and episodes of The Mindy Project playing Danny Castellano’s brother, Richie. In a 2017 Interview feature, Max said his decision to join The Handmaid’s Tale had a lot to do with the female-centric cast. “I find women more interesting to watch on a lot of levels, and I like the idea of being involved with something I would watch.”

Before The Handmaid’s Tale, Yvonne Strahovski had small roles in movies like The Guilt Trip (with Seth Rogen) and All I See Is You (with Blake Lively). On the TV front, the Australian actress appeared in more than 90 episodes of the NBC series Chuck and, later, two seasons of Dexter. In an interview with Cosmopolitan.com, Yvonne opened up about how she read Serena’s emotions on the Hulu series. “I think the anger is coming from an unidentified regret, a regret that hasn’t been realized into consciousness. I think it comes from the fact that she feels stripped of her identity, ironically from her femininity as well, despite what she was rooting for to begin with.”

Joseph Fiennes entered Gilead as a seasoned stage, movie, and TV actor, appearing in notable films like Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love and the second season of American Horror Story (he played Monsignor Timothy Howard in Asylum!).

Before taking the lead Martha role on The Handmaid’s Tale, Amanda Brugel, who hails from Canada, appeared on episodes of Nikita, Orphan Black, and the CBC sitcom Kim’s Convenience. “It has been such a part of my DNA,” Amanda told Hello! of bringing Margaret Atwood’s story to life. “She’s such a brilliant writer and has a brilliant mind. She doesn’t know it, but she’s my best friend!”

June’s husband is played by London-born actor O-T Fagbenle, who’s no stranger to picking up and moving to a totally different country. In an interview with RadioTimes, O-T revealed that he and his family have lived everywhere from Nigeria to Canada to Spain. “We had a map and we started choosing our favorite places,” he said.

Erin Way made her Handmaid’s Tale debut on season 1 as Erin, a former Handmaid who is fleeing to Canada and has stopped talking in wake of the trauma. We meet Erin when Luke gets picked up by a resistance group bound for Canada—however, only she and Luke actually make it across the border alive. In season 2, we see them living together in Toronto’s “Little America” district. Prior to joining the show, Erin appeared on episodes of Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, The Mentalist, and NCIS: Los Angeles. She also had a recurring role on the sci-fi series Colony, playing the tutor Lindsey.

When she’s not playing Chase Stein’s mom, Jane, on Marvel’s Runaways, Ever Carradine can be found wearing a dark-green dress as Naomi, a Wife who became a mother via Janine’s baby. “I love watching the show. It’s the only show I’ve ever been on where when I’m on-set, I actively think, how can I help Offred escape Gilead?” she told KTLA in January 2018. “I can’t separate reality from fiction.”

The veteran theater actor perfected his craft at Juilliard, which is probably why his portrayal of Commander Putnam is so bone-chillingly good. On season 1, episode 10, “Night,” Putnam’s left arm is amputated as punishment for having an affair with Janine and leading her to believe he was going to leave his wife for her. Allegedly.

Nina Kiri, who was born in Serbia and grew up in Canada, revealed in 2017 that she originally thought Ofrobert/Alma would only be in a couple episodes. Flash-forward to season 2 and her character is cri-ti-cal. In one particularly gory scene, Ofrobert’s hand is cuffed to a stovetop. You can guess what happened next.

During season 1, Tattiawna Jones is the second Ofglen, replacing Emily. When the Handmaids are forced to stone Janine to death, Ofglen #2 is the first to speak up and question Aunt Lydia’s command. “Seriously? Guys, this is insane,” she says, before getting knocked in the face by a Guardian. Tattiawna has also worked on the western series Strange Empire and the crime drama 19-2. Most recently, she played an FBI agent on the USA Network crime show Eyewitness.

Following work on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Blue Bloods, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Zabryna Guevara left the crime drama world and headed to Gotham. No really—over two seasons, she starred as police captain Sarah Essen on Fox’s Gotham. In 2017, she appeared on The Handmaid’s Tale as Mexican ambassador Castillo, who arrives in Gilead to discuss trade of Handmaids in the wake of her own country’s shortage of babies.

If you thought Mr. Flores—an assistant to the Mexican ambassador—looked familiar, chances are you’ve seen him on Modern Family (he was Pepper’s assistant-turned-boyfriend Ronaldo and he always had great hair). During season 1, Mr. Flores is the first to tell June that Luke is alive. He later helps June deliver a message to Luke in Canada: “I love you so much. Save Hannah.”

The Toronto-born actress plays a Martha who works at Jezebel’s and occasionally barters with Nick for drugs for the Jezebels to use after they sleep with Commanders and other officials. Kristen Gutoskie has appeared on several Canadian and American TV shows, including the cop drama Rookie Blue and The Vampire Diaries. In late 2017, she joined the second season of Fox’s TV adaptation of Lethal Weapon, playing Molly.

Prior to making routine pre-Ceremony checkups in Gilead, Kristian Bruun enjoyed a lengthy stay on Orphan Black, playing Allison’s husband and monitor, Donnie Hendrix. On his Handmaid’s episode, Brunn plays the doctor who offers his sperm to Offred because it’s that obvious the Commander’s sperm is inept. She kindly refuses and eventually Nick impregnates her.

A graduate of NYU’s Tisch, Rosa Gilmore played Zoe, a rebel who saves Luke and gives him antibiotics for his gunshot wound in season 1. In the episode, Zoe puts Luke in his place: To prove why he can’t stay in Gilead looking for his family, she shows him a church full of people who were hanged to death. The scene inspires him to leave for Canada.