Handmaid’s Tale star Yvonne Strahovski on that twist and Serena’s "ultimate FU to June" (original) (raw)

The Handmaid's Tale season 5 spoilers follow for episodes two, four and six. Note: Episodes four and six have not yet aired in the UK.

Has there ever been a character you love to hate and hate to love more than Serena Joy? The Handmaid's Tale is ultimately June's story overall, but it's impossible to imagine this tale without Yvonne Strahovski in her twice Emmy nominated role as Fred's wife.

Except, Fred isn't around anymore. And that means Serena's on her own now more than ever in season five. But don't count her out just yet, especially if the end of episode two is anything to go by.

Digital Spy caught up with Yvonne Strahovski to discuss Serena's season five journey, and of course, that funeral scene. The one that left us so gagged, we couldn't even breathe.

Channel 4

Do you ever find it hard to switch off from the intensity of this show?

I mean, it’s easy to compartmentalise. I do my stuff, and then I go home. I have a family. I have kids at home. But I will say that this season has been perhaps a little more physically demanding than last season. Some of that sort of speaks to more of what’s to come than perhaps what we’ve seen so far.

Episode two ends with Serena gloating over June with Hannah by her side at Fred's funeral. Can you talk us through this shocking moment?

That's really setting up the season. I think that this is Serena’s ultimate FU to June for murdering Fred, really. This is a huge, big, fat warning.

I mean, it looks awful. It is awful, what she does. It’s so manipulative. But Serena is just operating out of fear and terror at the start of the season, trying to set herself up to be someone protected and to look big and scary.

"Serena is operating out of fear and terror at the start of the season."

She’s done a great show of looking big and scary, you know? But a lot of that is a mask of sorts.

FINAL UK SPOILER WARNING — The next two questions refer to episodes that have not aired yet in the UK.

That reminds us of a scene in episode four where Luke confronts Serena in a place she thought was safe. This is the first time these two characters have talked properly in person.

Yeah, I wanted it to be played in this ice-cold way. But really, as you said, Serena knows she’s not in a safe place, and she knows she’s really vulnerable. I just don’t think she wants to show any of those cards to Luke at all. She’s trying to continue to put on her fierce, menacing show.

But really, I mean, these people are a very real threat to her and her existence. She’s walking a very fine line of not really having too many people left in her court to help her out. And she knows it. I think, ultimately, a lot of that… I thought it was very much overcompensation for how she’s really feeling inside.

It’s usually Serena’s MO [_laughs_].

Channel 4

Things take another dark turn for Serena from episode six where the Wheeler's start treating her as a Handmaid, just like she did with June. Can you talk us through that role-reversal?

I was stoked to read those scripts for five and six. I think it was just such a clever way for the writers to make Serena a Handmaid without actually making her a Handmaid. I mean, it was perfect.

It’s an incredible device to use for audiences to feel a sense of satisfaction, I guess, in Serena getting a taste of her own medicine. And then, obviously, it’s satisfying watching Serena navigate this new territory. For me, as an actor, it was really exciting because it’s very much territory that I haven’t explored yet as this character.

This character is always so prepared to be manipulative in terms of any situation, really — knowing all the different avenues she could talk, and all her options. Here, you really see this character realising that she’s out of options, and she can’t really foresee the future. She doesn’t really know what’s going on.

"Serena's getting a taste of her own medicine."

Serena's figuring it all out in the moment. Which, of course, leads to this huge, climactic cliffhanger at the end of six where she’s really playing it moment by moment, second to second to second.

That element is very exciting. There’s a lot of new things that I get to explore with the character this season. Which is so great. I mean, we’re in our fifth season, and I still feel very excited and challenged by the material, which is a credit to the writers and the creative team.

Five seasons in, what are you most proud of when it comes to your involvement with The Handmaid's Tale?

I don’t think that anybody when they signed up for this show – any actors or writers or any creative people – thought that this show would just be so impactful for people watching it in terms of how eerily aligned we have always been with the current state of affairs when it aired.

Channel 4

Which is not the case when we’re shooting it, obviously. We’re shooting it a lot earlier. Things happen and change and evolve. And suddenly the show’s airing, and bam, we’re suddenly becoming a symbol – a political symbol – more and more and more.

I’m not sure that any one of us expected anything like that. I mean, that’s the most amazing thing about being part of it. The show means so much to so many people in so many different ways.

I mean, it’s twofold. It’s very sadly and scarily representative of a lot of elements of real life. It’s that. But it’s "thank God, it’s there", also, to do that – to be reflective. To be the art that is imitating life so that we can highlight what needs changing more.

The Handmaid's Tale streams on Hulu in the US and both Channel 4 and Prime Video in the UK.

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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.

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