Elisabeth Moss on Why She Doesn’t Seek Out Strong Female Roles
Elisabeth Moss is known for playing feminist characters, but she doesn’t necessarily seek them out.
“It’s important to me to play women as they are,” Moss said at the premiere of “The Handmaid’s Tale” at Tribeca Film Festival on Friday. “Women are different because they’re all human beings and all human beings are different. Most people are strong and vulnerable and they’re complicated and have flaws and sometimes they’re heroic and sometimes they’re not. For me, it’s not important to play one thing. I like to do it all.”
Moss wore a long, black Rosetta Getty dress that she brightened with turquoise eyeshadow and pink lips. She plays Offred in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu’s adaptation of the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood.
Alexis Bledel, Samira Wiley, Yvonne Strahovski and O.T. Fagbenle were among the cast members at the premiere. Wiley, who wed “Orange Is the New Black” writer Lauren Morelli in secret in March, debuted a long, low ponytail and wore a matching Christina Economou set. She admitted she hadn’t read the book before — despite being assigned it in college — but when she read the script, she felt the story was “timely.”
“It’s a story of survival and it’s a story of perseverance,” she said. “Moira, the character that I play, she never, ever, ever takes no for an answer. I appreciate being able to bring her to life.”
Some media outlets have also noted the apparent relevance of the show. The New Republic published an article, “‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is a Warning to Conservative Women,” this week with a lead image of Kellyanne Conway as Elisabeth Moss’ character.
“People everywhere right now, especially in America, living at this time, need to remember to stay vigilant,” Wiley said. “In the show, what happens is people become complacent. People think that things can’t happen and then they do happen and they think, ‘Well this can’t happen,’ and then that happens. Just remember where we’re living. Remember our history so that we don’t repeat things that have happened in the past, and just try to teach the next generation the things that we’ve learned. I think we should try to have a little more faith than fear.”
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