Handmaid’s star given hints character was alive
Samira Wiley still tears up a bit talking about Poussey Washington, the character she played on Orange Is the New Black for four seasons.
“She gave me my life,” Wiley says. “She gave me a career. I met my wife (writer Lauren Morelli) on Orange. I felt like from the moment I got that role, I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. And now it’s gone — which is fine. I’m on to the next thing.”
Poussey died in a prison riot in Season 4’s penultimate episode, her demise echoing the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York City police officers. Shortly afterward, Wiley won the role of Moira, in Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
Wiley, 30, dropped by the Times’ offices shortly before a recent call time on a movie project, shooting in downtown Los Angeles, that she’s not at liberty to discuss. But she had plenty to say about a host of other topics, including the foreboding finale of Handmaid’s. Q: In the book, Moira’s fate remains ambiguous after Offred finds her at Jezebel’s. When did the producers tell you that you’d be continuing on the show? A: For the longest time, I had no idea. You’re right. In the book, you don’t really see her after Jezebel’s. I was almost afraid to ask. On Orange, you couldn’t talk to the writers about anything. It was all on lockdown. But here, they gave me more hints. It was bit by bit, piece by piece.
Even then, there’s something pure about reading the script and not knowing what’s going to happen. It feels like watching a show with everyone else. I don’t necessarily want to know what’s going to happen next. Q: So you weren’t dying inside, wondering: “Am I going to have a job next season?” A: I’m a person who likes and wants to live in the moment. It comes easy to me — probably because of my ADD. I can’t focus on too many things at one time.
I mean, I didn’t even read the book until after I was cast, which was interesting because Margaret Atwood happens to be my wife’s favorite author. I had no clue. She freaked out when I got the audition, which was good because I was a little wary of playing another gay character. I didn’t want to be typecast. And she was like, “Absolutely not!” Q: Moira was presumed dead after the fourth episode. People weren’t too happy about that. A: So many people were like: “Oh my god, I can’t believe they did this to you twice! They killed Poussey and now you’re dead in The Handmaid’s Tale. And I wanted to be like: “No guys! Please don’t stop watching!”
And then, Episode 8 came out and you see Moira at Jezebel’s and everybody was like, “Oh my god! Those bunny ears!” They were pretty intense.