Alexis Bledel has surprisingly announced his departure from his Emmy-winning role in The Handmaid’s Tale, which has begun filming its fifth season.
“After much thought, I felt like I had to move away from The Handmaid’s Tale right now,” said the 40-year-old actress, who has been on the show since the first season.
“I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and the group for their support,” he told Variety.
Seen on screen: Alexis Bledel has shockingly announced the release of The Handmaid’s Tale, which has begun filming its fifth season
Based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel, the show takes place in a patriarchal dystopia called Gilead founded on what was once the United States.
Women are reduced to a much lower status than men, deprived of such basic rights as being able to read or use money.
‘Gates’ are women who are forced into a veil and subjected to a form of slavery in which they are repeatedly raped for the purpose of having children.
Alexis played Emily Malek, who was a maid under the name Ofglen until she escaped to Canada and now works for the Mayday Resistance.
End of the Road: “After much thought, I felt I had to move away from The Handmaid’s Tale right now,” the 40-year-old actress told Variety in a statement this week.
She won an Emmy for Guest Actress Outstanding for her work in the first season, and has been nominated three more times for the show.
The show has long overlooked the events of Margaret Atwood’s novel, so writers have a level of freedom to shape the plot around Alexis’ departure.
Starring Elisabeth Moss in the lead role of a maid named Offred, the show had its first season in 2017 and left the fourth season from April to June last year.
One of the show’s stars, Ann Dowd, confirmed to The Independent this January that the fifth season “would begin filming in February.”
Elbow to Elbow: Starring Elisabeth Moss (left) in the lead role of a maid named Offred, the show had its first season in 2017; Elisabeth and Alexis appear together in the series
In her debut, the show became an important cultural touchstone, especially among feminists furious with Donald Trump.
A number of anti-Trump protesters began dressing as maids, not only in the US but also in foreign cities such as London and Warsaw because of their visits there.
Abortion rights protesters have been wearing maid dresses this month after an unprecedented leak revealed that Roe v Wade could be overturned.
Terror: Based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel, the show takes place in a patriarchal dystopia called Gilead based on what was once the United States.
Alexis became a star as one of the characters in the title of Gilmore Girls, a long-running drama that ran from 2000 to 2007.
He also embarked on a film career that has included such memorable titles as The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants and Sin City.
His release of The Handmaid’s Tale comes four years after he revealed that a third Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants movie was leaking.
Who’s Who: Alexis played Emily Malek, who was a maid under the name Ofglen until she escaped to Canada and now works for the Mayday Resistance.
She appeared on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon on April 18, saying she and her co-stars had “just released a third film, and I hope she gets together.”
Alexis starred in Blake Lively, America Ferreira and Amber Tamblyn’s first film in 2005, as well as its 2008 sequel.
The films are based on a series of five books by Ann Brashares, and four of the novels have already been condensed into the first two films.