What do you think of some states in the US passing restrictive abortion laws, given you are on a show about the restriction of women’s rights?
I think it’s a pretty terrifying situation that we’re in right now. I think it’s really scary and I think it feels a little bit too much like that period in The Handmaid’s Tale book before there was Gilead, where there were things happening that seemed foreboding. And it’s a little too much like that for my comfort and for a lot of people’s comfort. I fall on the side of choice. You can’t tell people what to do, can’t tell people what to believe, who to love and what to do with their bodies; you just can’t.
What advice do you have for women who are concerned about what’s happening in the US?
I always rely on [author] Margaret Atwood’s advice and she told me to keep an eye on the right to protest. When that’s taken away you’re in real trouble. And the other thing that she said was keep an eye on legislation. It’s not the big election that happens every four years that is the absolute most important. It’s all the steps that lead up to that and it’s in local law. It’s the people who are actually making the decisions in your city, in your town, in your state. That’s where these things begin. And when they get to a certain place it’s maybe too late to stop it.
Do you have strangers coming up to you tell you how much your character means to them?
It feels like people have this relationship with it that is really deep and really connected, and it’s very personal to them. And when they disagree with a character on the show they really hate that character and everyone’s very passionate. That’s a different experience.
