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Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale may have noticed that Alexis Bledel, who played the powerful and tragic character Emily (also known as Ofglen), quietly disappeared from the show after Season 4. Now, she’s finally opening up about why she chose to walk away, and it all came down to how emotionally overwhelming the role had become.
If you watched the show, you know Emily’s storyline was one of the most disturbing. She starts out as a professor and a mom, living a normal life, until she’s punished for being in a same-sex relationship, which is illegal in the fictional, totalitarian world of Gilead. She’s forced to become a Handmaid and renamed Ofglen, and over the seasons, suffers horrifying abuse, including physical mutilation and exile. Later, she fights back, taking justice into her own hands.
So, why did Alexis Bledel leave The Handmaid’s Tale?
Alexis, who’s also well known for her role as Rory on Gilmore Girls, explained in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter that playing Emily was incredibly tough, even painful, on an emotional level. The character goes through unimaginable trauma, and portraying that took a real toll on her.
“It was deeply upsetting to even imagine Emily going through something like that,” Alexis said, referring to the scenes where her character is captured, stripped of all control, and subjected to abuse in a brutal, dystopian world. “After a lot of thought, I just felt like I had to step away from The Handmaid’s Tale,” she had also told E! News back in May 2022.
Alexis said she was immediately drawn to the role when it was offered to her. “When I read the first script, I said yes right away,” she shared. “Somehow, Bruce [Miller, the showrunner] just knew I had Ofglen in me.”
Alexis isn’t the only one who found the show emotionally heavy. Samira Wiley, who played Moira, has also spoken about how difficult it was to be part of a story so steeped in trauma. In an interview around Season 6, Samira admitted that she, too, had decided to move on from the series.
To cope with the emotional toll, Samira said she had to turn to things like meditation and mindfulness to keep herself grounded. She also mentioned that for viewers who binge-watch the show, it’s important to take breaks and look after their mental health, because the subject matter can be really intense.