The Handmaid's Tale has been delighting and disturbing fans with its dark storyline ever since Hulu announced the classic story was set to become a TV series.
Author Margaret Atwood, who published the original book in 1985, admitted she doesn't have any control of the adaptation of her work.
Atwood, who had a brief cameo appearance in the first episode of the show, said she's happy with how the series has played out.
"I think I would have to be awfully stupid to resent it because things could have been so much worse," she said to the audience at the Hay literary festival.
"They have done a tippety-top job, the acting is great, they've stuck to the central set of premises."
Atwood also revealed that she didn't have any control over whether the series was made or not as she sold the rights for the 1989 film of the same name.
What to Read Next
Natasha Richardson took on the role of Offred for the movie, acting alongside Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall and Elizabeth McGovern.
"None of this was in any way under my control," she said. "Even if I had thrown a tantrum and said you can't do this, that would have had no legal standing."
Atwood also discussed the second series of the show, which goes off-book as it continues the story of Offred.
"It's a television series. If you're going to have a series you can't kill off the central character and you also can't have the central character escape to safety in episode one of season two," Atwood said. "It's not going to happen."
The show currently has a team of 10 writers – and seven of them are women.
Recalling her meeting with creator Bruce Miller, Atwood added that he said he had "one penis too many", but had "hired a lot of women".
"And then he said 'I thought they would all agree on everything,'" she told the crowd at Hay.
The Handmaid's Tale airs Sundays on Channel 4 in the UK. It airs on Hulu in the US.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.
Catherine is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, and was the site's News Editor between 2018 and 2024. Prior to that, she worked at OK! Online, and has interviewed a slew of celebrities across her career in entertainment news, including Tom Hanks, Cheryl and Noel Fielding. Catherine also has specialist knowledge in all things drag, interviewing a huge portion of RuPaul’s Drag Race stars, and getting her own drag makeover for Channel 4's show Drag SOS. LinkedIn
