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DIRECTOR'S CHAIR www.postmagazine.com 10 POST MAY/JUNE 2020 rippling disease and pollution. Economic chaos. Civil war. Power- crazed leaders. Subjugated women. Revolution. If ever a show and its themes seemed like they were tailor-made for the COVID-19 era, it's The Handmaid's Tale. And the Hulu hit has achieved that rare distinction in pop culture, where timely and difficult subject matter, and massive artistic ambition, crosses over into massive ratings. Starring a large ensemble cast headed by Elisabeth Moss and Joseph Fiennes, and based on the acclaimed dystopian and prescient 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood, the show was created by showrunner and EP Bruce Miller, and has won numer- ous awards, including multiple Emmys (including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series for Miller); the Peabody Award; the Golden Globe for Best Television Series, Drama; the Critics Choice Award for Best Drama Series; the PGA Award for Outstanding Producer Of Episodic Television, Drama; and two WGA Awards, for Best Drama Series and Best New Series. Miller began his writing career on NBC's long-running hit ER, and has been a writer/producer on Syfy's Eureka and Alphas, and the CW's The 100. Here, in an exclusive Post interview, Miller talks about making the show, the challenges and why he loves post. This is such a cautionary tale, and Margaret Atwood, who wrote it 35 years ago, has said that everything has now happened somewhere in the world since she wrote it, and it's happening today. Do you think that's why the show's caught the public's imagination so much? "I think so, and I think a lot of it has to do with her book, which has always been so relevant and pressing. I think it's much more to do with the timing of the material than the timing of the show, so I feel that no matter when we did the show, it would have seemed like the perfect timing." Fair to say that Atwood's book and its themes seem more timely than ever? "Yes, but then when I first read it back in the '80s I thought, 'This is so perfect for now,' so I really feel it's the enduring nature of her work. I'm a bad reader, very dyslexic and quite slow, and part of that is I re-read the same books I love over and over again, and so when I re-read the book again, I see all these fresh parallels with American politics and global events, and I always feel, 'She wrote it for just this time! She's Nostradamus!' And now we have COVID-19. So hopefully today is as close to what she wrote about as we'll ever get." What can you tell us about Season 4? Given the crisis with COVID-19 now, how far along are you? "When it all began, we'd started shoot- ing Season 4, so we had to totally shut down. We've written almost the whole season, and we're continuing to write and doing it all remotely and moving along, but we're stuck in limbo like everyone else. Hulu's been so supportive to both the cast and crew, but it's hard as everyone's gone from thinking they'd be employed all year to nothing — which is terrifying. But of course, our main concern right now is everyone's health. And hopefully we'll get back to shooting before too long." You have a great cast, and every character is so complex. What do actors like Elisabeth Moss and Joseph Fiennes bring to the mix? "All the actors bring so much experience from so many areas, and they all know just how to do this as they're so practiced in their process. No one's trying to figure it out as they go, as they all do the hard work and prep off-stage. So while they may have very different styles of prepping their roles, there's none of that process on set. For Elisabeth, she's also an EP on the show and she works really hard at that role, and then as an actor she has what I feel is this main circuit cable that connects her heart to her face — and she can't turn it off, even if she wants to. And that's the thing I love about her so much — that she has very complex emotions that show both how strong she is and how she has faults and weaknesses, like everyone else, and it can all be happening at the same time. You see them all. And Joe brings this elegance and regal feeling to a very dark, grim character, and he's such a sweet, lovely person, so when you combine all that it's incongruous and very interesting to watch." Where are you shooting? "In and around Toronto, and it's a great place to shoot as we can get a wide variety of locations very easily, they have great crews and great facilities." What are the big challenges of running this show? "The big one is basically time — or lack of, which is true of all TV shows. You're always fighting to keep the audience really engaged and entertained without letting the show turn into a pablum, where they just consume it to get a quick fix. You want it to be interesting. And the other big one is the: 'Don't fuck it up' challenge. Here's a great book, written by a woman, and I'm not a woman, and I love the book so I don't want to screw it up. Luckily it's the same worry as the au- dience's: 'Don't mess it up, Bruce!' That's my mantra." Do you like being a showrunner? "Very much, surprisingly, as when I got CREATOR/SHOWRUNNER BRUCE MILLER ON THE HANDMAID'S TALE BY IAIN BLAIR C INSIDE HULU'S AWARD- WINNING SERIES Bruce Miller