Elisabeth Moss Says ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ Is A “Long Walk” From Trump’s America – SXSW

Emmy award-winning actress Elisabeth Moss has two big projects at SXSW one is the music drama Her Smell where she plays a punk rock musician struggling with sobriety and her creative groove — which is more than appropriate for the Austin-based confab. The other a little horror film called Us from Jordan Peele which premiered at SXSW to an uproarious ovation as the fest’s opening night film. But her role in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a show that is all too relevant right now considering the current climate for women and marginalized communities.

During the Q&A portion at her featured session moderated by Grammy-winning musician Brandi Carlile, Moss was asked how long of a walk it is from The Handmaid’s Tale‘s Gilead to Trump’s America. She admits that the treatment of women is far from perfect in the United States, but she hopes the show’s fictitious and oppressive Republic of Gilead is a considerable distance from the real life many of us are living.

“I hope it’s a long walk,” Moss said. “There are other countries that that are a lot closer. There are some countries that are Gilead…we are farther.”

She said she has talked to Margaret Atwood about this same exact topic and the author said we are not there, but you cannot close your eyes to what is going on in the world. When it comes to how the women are treated in The Handmaid’s Tale, Moss points out “It’s based on what has happened before”.

Us is set to open in theaters March 22 while Her Smell opens April 12. The 13-episode third season of The Handmaid’s Tale will launch on Hulu June 5 beginning with three new episodes and subsequent episodes released on Wednesdays.