‘I’VE GROWN TO LOVE AUNT LYDIA’
The Emmy Award-winning actress, 65, spills the beans on the riveting new season of the hit show
We’ve had to wait for more than a year for season four but it’s finally here! What can we expect?
I am so excited for this season. Lydia gets to know Janine better, and this is interesting for her because she begins to see taking Janine’s eye as a mistake. She also realises that she’s reacted emotionally to both Janine and June. Lydia goes out of her comfort zone and behaves in a way that we have never seen before.
So are we finally seeing a softer side to Aunt Lydia?
Lydia is no fool, and does what she must to survive, but she definitely begins to struggle with her love and admiration of Janine and June, and she is deeply thrilled and astonished at the risks that they take. Lydia wishes she could do the same, and in this season she does, and it is brilliant.
You’ve previously mentioned you have strong love for Lydia – but she’s so cruel!
To actors, characters have a voice and it is our job to listen. In the case with Lydia, I would step into her shoes and try to understand her reasoning. Back when I was reading the script, I could not understand why the handmaids were talking bad about Lydia. At one point I heard June say something about Lydia and I was thinking, “You know better than to say something about her”, but it was at this point I realised that I had to let go of my judgement. I realised that I am playing a character that others may not see in the same light that I do.
As her ambassador, I felt that I had to step up sometimes and talk to Bruce Miller, our showrunner, about her character. He may not change anything, but he is always willing to listen.
What was it like working with Elisabeth Moss, aka June, who also directs this season?
She is fantastic. Because we are close as colleagues and as friends, her understanding of Lydia allows her to suggest other ways to look at the character. She always had new thoughts, and if I was struggling to understand something, she would always dig it out. Elisabeth is a terrific leader, and she sets a great example. Seeing her step out of her leadership role and into some of these brutal scenes was truly extraordinary.
THE HANDMAID’S TALE premieres Thursday, 8.30pm, SBS
‘I realised that I had to let go of my judgement’