The Handmaid's Tale showrunner Bruce Miller has weighed in on the absences of Moira Strand and Rita Blue throughout season 5.
Played by Samira Wiley and Amanda Brugel respectively, these two allies of June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) were largely AWOL in our latest visit to a crumbling Gilead.
As it happens, this was caused by the exit of Emily Malek star Alexis Bledel.
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During his exclusive chat with Digital Spy, Miller offered a detailed explanation of how things panned out behind the scenes.
"[Bledel's departure] happened certainly early enough that we could change direction. But because – in a good way, because we love Emily so much, and adore working with Alex, we had already made lots of decisions halfway through the season before.
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"There was no way she could let us know ahead of time, because we were already building stuff up through the middle of season 4 for now," he added.
"She let us know as quickly as she could when she made the decision – as she does with all those things. It was her own counsel, and there was no rancour at all. It was a personal decision. We were terribly sorry to see her go, personally, with the work that she does on the show, it's so unbelievable."
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Miller, who also produced ER and The 100, went on to admit that Moira and Rita's arcs suffered as a consequence.
"Honestly, Moira's story and Rita's story, which were tied up with Emily's story, they really did suffer this season.
"I love all of our characters. I could do a series... The Moira Show, I would watch. I would write it deliciously. Oh my God, I could do it. And Rita's show," he enthused.
"So we always have huge amounts of story that we're not allowed to do. Huge flashbacks that we just don't have real estate for. The network would give us an extra episode or two or three. But it's the stories – we have to make this distilled."
The Handmaid's Tale streams on Hulu in the US and both Channel 4 and Prime Video in the UK.
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Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
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.
