Alexis Bledel Says Becoming A Mother Made Her Do The Handmaid's Tale

Alexis Bledel takes on the role of Ofglen in the chilling retelling of the dystopian Margaret Atwood novel, The Handmaid's Tale. In an interview with ET, Bledel shared why she is so passionate about her role.

“More than anything, I just think about what roles I take on, and make sure that it’s really something that I feel passionate about if I’m going to leave home and go work,” Bledel shared. “I just want to love what I’m doing.”

Playing the role of the one of several handmaids forced to give up their lives to become surrogates for elite couples who cannot bear children of their own as a result of drastically declining birthrates (phew!), you would think that this work of fiction would be just that; however, fans and critics alike have drawn eery comparisons between the book and the current political climate in the United States. Refinery29 sat down for an interview with Bledel where she had this to say about the unsettling parallels:

"There are certainly some eerie parallels being drawn. I've been interested in reading any of the reviews, because journalists have certainly drawn these parallels better than I could being inside the creative process. I don't have the perspective that they have. I spent my time creating my character and being on set. But it certainly is eerie.”

In an interview with Bustle, the actress explained how the show raised the bar for the type of roles she would look to take on in the future. “Gilmore Girls was a great training ground for me for this. And now this certainly raises the bar in terms of what I look for in a character. I hope I get to play similarly complex characters moving forward. It's fulfilling.”

Bledel’s character, Ofglen, is richly complex. The show takes on LGBTQ representation in a way that asserts the importance of depth in a character beyond one identifiable trait. Rather, each handmaid is multidimensional in her backstory and character. “It's a feminist story, and it's a human story. And it's a human story because it's a feminist story,” Bledel said of the show being labeled as overly feminist.

Aleix Bledel attributes the relevance of the novel-turned-series to author Margaret Atwood’s brilliance as a writer during the interview with Bustle. "When Margaret published the book in 1985, many reviews said that it was very relevant then, so I think that's just a testament to her brilliant writing,” she said.

"I really enjoy working on streaming outlets because there's so much creative control for the creators of the shows, and you're allowed to make such great television," Bledel shared referencing her experience working with both Netflix and Hulu. "There are so many shows now, so it's just great that actors have all these opportunities to work and do great work.”