Aunt Lydia is a true believer
Ann Dowd’s portrayal of brutal warden embodies spirit of Gilead
The Handmaid’s Tale Sundays, Bravo; new episodes Mondays, CraveTV
Ann Dowd warns that actors should never be too judgmental about the characters they play.
That’s her approach to Aunt Lydia, the uncompromising warden who oversees Offred (Elisabeth Moss), Ofglen (Alexis Bledel) and all the fertile sex slaves in The Handmaid’s Tale. The second season of the dystopian drama premières Sunday on Bravo.
There’s no question Aunt Lydia can be brutally harsh. Get on her wrong side and you can lose an eye. She is a true believer in the new world order known in the series as Gilead and is always ready to step in and protect the women forced to produce babies under her charge.
Dowd, 62, who won an Emmy last season for her role, says judging characters is a mistake, “because then they won’t reveal themselves to you.” She feels Aunt Lydia genuinely “cares deeply for these girls, and thinks the world before Gilead was a disgrace.”
The Handmaid’s Tale is based on the 1985 bestseller by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Dowd confirms the second season takes up where the book left off.
“It’s just extraordinary, what goes on this season,” Dowd says. “Unbelievable.”
Atwood had a memorable cameo early in the series, slapping Offred hard across the back of her head.
Dowd’s assessment of Atwood’s acting skills? “Hey, you’re born for this, girl!”
The appreciation was mutual: “She was very gracious and lovely and gave me some confidence there to continue,” Dowd says.
After a long and impressive stage and movie career, including roles in Philadelphia (1993) and Compliance (2012), Dowd finds herself among TV’s acting elite. Along with raves from the critics, she picked up a second best acting Emmy nomination last season for her role as one of the leaders of the Guilty Remnant on the HBO drama The Leftovers. Gone after three seasons, it’s a show and an experience Dowd will dearly miss.
“He’s a genius, I’m telling you,” says Dowd of showrunner Damon Lindelof (Lost), adding that the series main star, Justin Theroux, “will be my dear friend for life.”
“I think what Leftovers did for people,” Dowd says, is to help viewers come to grips with grief and loss, “because we can’t escape it, and there’s no point in trying. What we learn to do is accept it, and sit with it, and realize it is not going to kill us.”
Dowd is just as positive about places as she is about people. She says she’s enjoyed visiting the small, southern Ontario towns outside Toronto and Hamilton while on location for The Handmaid’s Tale — even if this usually meant a 5:30 a.m. hotel pickup and a long drive to the set.