‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Boss Reveals How Alexis Bledel’s Exit Impacted Season 5: ‘We Lost Puzzle Pieces’

An important quality volition beryllium missing from The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 which premieres Sept. 14 connected Hulu. Emmy Award winner Alexis Bledel, 40, exited the series earlier this year, though the caller play volition code what happens to her quality Emily, a erstwhile Handmaid who escaped Gilead and made it to Canada. Creator Bruce Miller spoke to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY and revealed however Alexis’s lack affected the wide storyline successful the 5th and penultimate season.

Alexis Bledel successful ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (Photo: George Kraychyk/Hulu/Everett Collection)

“Alexis is simply a pro and talked to her radical and fto america cognize arsenic aboriginal arsenic she could. There wasn’t a ton that we had to shift. But honestly I deliberation it gave immoderate quality abbreviated trip,” Bruce told us. “Because the stories for Rita and Moira were truly revolving astir the communicative for Alexis. That was hard due to the fact that we mislaid a batch of puzzle pieces astatine 1 time.”

Emily’s whereabouts are revealed to June (Elisabeth Moss) and the viewers successful the archetypal occurrence of play 5. It turns retired that she near Toronto and returned to Gilead hell-bent connected revenge against anyone that harmed her including Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd).

In our EXCLUSIVE interview, Bruce told america that Emily’s determination has an interaction connected June and her future. June arrived successful Canada successful play 4, and reunited with her hubby Luke (O-T Fagbenle) and her girl Nichole. But June is considering returning to Gilead to yet rescue her different girl Hannah.

Elisabeth Moss and Alexis Bledel successful ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (Photo: George Kraychyk/Hulu/Everett Collection)

“Emily arsenic a imaginable beingness illustration for June, similar if you fto your defender down you’re going to tally backmost to Gilead, that’s wherever there’s magnetism there,” Bruce explained. “I deliberation it’s specified a bully entity lesson. It truly has been the acquisition that that quality has been playing connected the show, she conscionable plays it present successful absentia.”

Season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale will prime up aft June brutally murdered Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes). Serena Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski) is large and wants revenge aft her husband’s death. Hulu has announced that the deed dystopian series, which is based connected Margaret Atwood’s bestselling novel, will extremity aft play 6.