Why I’m feeling broody as I turn 40, by Elisabeth Moss
AS A sex slave in the dystopian TV series The Handmaid’s Tale, Elisabeth Moss is forced to produce children for the ruling class of men – but that hasn’t put her off starting her own family.
The actress today reveals that she is getting broody as she approaches her 40th birthday.
‘I definitely want to have kids because I’ve been very inspired by the kind of mother my mum is,’ she tells You magazine. ‘She did a beautiful thing with me.’
The US star, who remains coy about her relationship status, jokingly adds: ‘And then I’ll give the child to my mum and she can raise it because she’d do it very well!’
For now, the 39-year-old’s family are her two cats, Ethel and Lucy, who travel with her on filming assignments. ‘I’m away for seven or eight months of the year – having them with me makes a place feel more like home,’ she says.
Her relationship with her musician mother, Linda, grew even closer during the pandemic when she was largely confined to New York by lockdown restrictions.
‘It was really special for us, spending concentrated time together,’ she recalls. ‘A silver lining to a very dark, strange time.’
After finding fame in the West Wing playing the daughter of the US President, the actress starred as Peggy Olson in hit drama series Mad Men, set in a 1960s New York advertising agency. But it is her performance as June, the subversive slave in the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel, that has cemented her place as a leading actress.
Indeed, so compelling is her portrayal of June that people are rather surprised to find that she is much more fun in real life. ‘If I went around like June, I don’t know that I’d survive. I wouldn’t want to be around me!’ she says.