Elisabeth Moss took Handmaid’s Tale role to stop another actor getting the part

Elisabeth Moss has revealed that she took the lead role in The Handmaid’s Tale series to block another actor from securing it.

The show stars Mad Men actor Moss as June Osbourne (Offred), who is forced to serve as a Handmaid and bear children in a dystopian version of the United States. It is based on the book of the same name, written by Margaret Atwood. First premiering in 2017, the show is now in its sixth and final season.

But Moss turned down the role twice, only taking it when it was revealed who the role would be offered to if she didn’t accept.

“I wasn’t quite sure if I was ready to make that commitment again, so I actually passed the first time they offered it to me,” Moss said on The Jennifer Hudson Show.

“I know, it seems insane now. I’m so glad I’ve corrected that. And then they came back, and they very nicely offered it again, blah, blah, blah. Then the thing that clinched it was—they leaked it to me, obviously on purpose, who they were going to offer it to if I didn’t take it, and I was like, ‘Over my dead body.’”

Although Moss did not reveal her competition, she added: “It was the thing that made realise that I needed to do it. I couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else playing that role, you know what I mean? That was the thing that made me realise how badly I wanted to do it.”

The actor has had a string of roles that see her characters go on a journey from victimhood to self-empowerment, including trailblazing secretary Peggy in Mad Men as well as June who is enslaved for her womb in The Handmaid’s Tale.

“I always try to make my characters end up being heroines and representing feminism,” Moss told The Times.

“I try to make them real, whether it’s representing a woman in the workplace or a mother. They’re just like you and me – not special, not perfect. Nobody is 100 per cent good all of the time.”

She added: “We don’t have special powers. We’re women and we’re human. But real women who are not perfect can find their strength, whether that’s getting out of a bad relationship, telling your boss you want a pay rise or marching on the capital in a red costume.”