American Horror Story and Shakespeare in Love star Joseph Fiennes has been cast as the male lead in the streaming giant's take on Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Picked up straight to series, the 10-episode drama stars Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss and tells the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the U.S. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism that treats women as property of the state. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Moss), is a handmaid in the commander's household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world. She is forced to navigate between commanders, their cruel wives, domestic "Marthas" (servants) and her fellow handmaids — where anyone could be a spy for Gilead — all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter who was taken from her.
Fiennes will star as Cmdr. Fred Waterford, a founding father of Gilead, he is a powerful, high-ranking official who rules the household where Offred (Moss) is a handmaid.
Picked up straight to series, the 10-episode drama stars Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss and tells the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the U.S. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism that treats women as property of the state. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Moss), is a handmaid in the commander's household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world. She is forced to navigate between commanders, their cruel wives, domestic "Marthas" (servants) and her fellow handmaids — where anyone could be a spy for Gilead — all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter who was taken from her.
Fiennes will star as Cmdr. Fred Waterford, a founding father of Gilead, he is a powerful, high-ranking official who rules the household where Offred (Moss) is a handmaid.
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