Two weeks on from The Handmaid's Tale finale, there's still one burning unanswered question on fans' minds: Where the heck was Nick?! Max Minghella's brooding, morally ambiguous fan favorite has been absent since Season 3, Episode 6, when he was abruptly shipped off to the war front in Chicago. Shortly after, June discovered the truth about his violent past as part of the Gilead crusade. Fans expected Nick to return later in the season—and according to showrunner Bruce Miller, that was indeed the original plan, but his scenes were ultimately cut.
"We just don't have the real estate in the show," Miller tells BAZAAR.com. "We had all sorts of other stuff with Nick, and with characters like Janine and Moira. … Max is a wonderful actor. He has scenes that we filmed that we weren't able to use, and it's heartbreaking. I feel like shit when I have to cut that stuff, but sometimes you have to make those decisions when you're trying to make a good TV show overall."
We caught up with Minghella himself to discuss Nick's Season 3 arc, his feelings about June/Nick shippers, and his future on The Handmaid's Tale.
Nick had a lot to do in the front half of the season, and then was absent for the back episodes. How did you feel about his Season 3 arc?
I really liked this season a lot. I've been enjoying watching it, and I loved this last episode in particular—I thought it was beautiful. This is a boring answer, but I love doing the show, and I love playing this character, and the scenes I get to do are extraordinary. I find Nick to have so many shades of gray to him. He's often a mystery to me, and at the same time, I find him very close to home. His are very comfortable shoes to wear.
June discovering Nick's past was a big turning point for the season. How did you feel about how that played out?
I think the revelation in Episode 6 is more a revelation for June than the audience, because in Season 1, it's made fairly clear that he was a part of whatever uprising there was. The fact that it was a reveal to June is the most important thing, because the show is completely about her perspective and how she is receiving information and processing it and taking action based on it. But when that episode aired, I loved how much of a dramatic impact it had for the audience, even if it wasn't necessarily a totally new revelation. It felt revelatory, and I think that's a testament to how successful Bruce is in channeling the perspective of the show through June.
In reference to that episode, Warren Littlefield mentioned there’s a lot of mutual denial between June and Nick. She doesn’t ask about his past, and it’s like they’re in a suspended reality when they’re together.
There's a lot of burying under the carpet between Nick and June, because they need some kind of relief from this hellscape, and you don't want to have to drag up the past. It's like people who are in long-distance relationships where they only see each other for brief periods of time. They don't want to start a fight, because they only have three days together.
The romance between June and Nick is so morally complicated for so many reasons. How do you feel about fans who ship them?
I mean, that's lovely. Lizzie and I really enjoy working together, and we enjoy the romance between these characters. We look forward to doing those scenes, and it plays into our taste as audience members too. I like that I'm a part of the romantic narrative in the show. It's probably the least intellectual aspect of the show, and that makes sense because I'm not a very intellectual person!
Bruce Miller said the finale is about June’s transformation into a soldier. Based on that, do you think she’ll have a new understanding of Nick when they reunite?
I think Nick's very in love with her, so I'm sure he's really hoping it works out. But she was also married to a wonderful person who loves her very much and has a chid with that person, so it's very complicated.
Do you have any sense of what’s next for Nick?
I don't. I'm really excited to go back, and I know that the direction of the show is going to shift. This season was a catalyst for a lot of exciting stuff, so I think we're all excited about what next season's going to look like. They've never let us down. The writers do an extraordinary job of always surprising us. It's a very weird feeling to get scripts and genuinely be like, "Wait, what's going to happen next?" Season 4's going to be really exciting, and I think it's going to be different.
What kinds of reactions do you hear the most from fans?
I'm always surprised by how many men approach me! More often that not, it's excited husbands. This show really does reach different demographics and connects on a bigger level than people realize. I'm really proud of that. This show is on the right side of the conversation, and it's getting to people. Bruce has always been so conscious of making sure that it's a great TV show. No matter how nuanced the discourse of what's going on, it's always great storytelling and entertainment above all else. I think that's allowed people to then mull over the deeper ideas, without feeling like they're going to get their vegetables every time they tune in.
Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.
