WHETHER OR NOT you have yet to catch a single episode, you’ll know that the concept behind The Handmaid’s Tale makes for pretty harrowing TV.
Scenes of considerable violence and non-consensual sex punctuate almost every episode of the hit TV series, and it’s perhaps for this reason a conscious effort has been made to create and nurture an atmosphere of trust among the cast and crew.
During a discussion on the Drama Actress Roundtable, the show’s lead, Elisabeth Moss, praised the ethos behind the scenes, revealing that she gets full approval over her scenes.
As far as the nudity and the sex, I have 100 percent approval over all the footage and I literally can say, ‘You cannot use that scene.’
Acknowledging that full control in that regard is a rarity in Hollywood, Elisabeth also suggests that the entire atmosphere is a rarity.
I work in a really incredibly collaborative atmosphere on my show that I have never experienced. I have been in television for a while, and it’s not like this usually, so I am very, very lucky. There’s no hierarchy, there’s no ego.
Elisabeth credits her collaboration with Jane Campion on Top of the Lake for her approach to the issue of scene approval.
I was lucky in the sense that five years ago I worked with Jane Campion. It was my first nude scene and she gave me 100 percent approval without me asking.
Elisabeth’s remarks were met with incredulity by some of the actors, including Thandie Newton, Claire Foy, Sandra Oh, and Angela Bassett, who joined her for the discussion.
However, Maggie Gyllenhaal who was also present, revealed that she too has full control, with Elisabeth insisting: “Everyone should have it.”
