Will Joseph Fiennes exit "The Handmaid's Tale" after season 3? The actor, who plays the intimidating Commander Fred Waterford, seemed to have hinted that he's ready to leave the character behind.
In an interview with Deadline, Fiennes said that he's looking forward to shaving off his beard once work on "The Handmaid's Tale" season 3 is over. He's been growing Fred's signature look months before he has to go back to the set and joked that the character has been taking over his mind because the beard has been on him in a while.
But the actor also admitted that he's not so keen on where the show will go since the scripts given to the actors are often rewritten during the shoots. Fiennes said he has a sense of the new season's narrative but like most viewers of "The Handmaid's Tale," he can only guess what will happen in the finale episode.
Meanwhile, the actor also revealed that there were some scenes in the script from the second season which he opposed. In particular, he exchanged long emails with showrunner and writer Bruce Miller because Fiennes wanted to remove a scene where Fred had to be sexually abusive to his wife, Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski).
Fiennes said that he flat out refused to do the rape scene because he felt that it was not necessary. Though his character on "The Handmaid's Tale" is evil in many ways, Fiennes did not think that the show needed a heavy scene to drive Serena Joy over the edge.
Fans of "The Handmaid's Tale" may be wondering what's going to happen to happen to Fred and Serena in the third season. What will likely be the fallout of what Serena did?
Viewers may recall that Serena arranged to have their daughter Nicole/Holly be taken safely across the border so that she's not going to grow up in a negative environment fostered by Fred's Gilead. Will Fred find out his wife conspired with her handmaid Offred/Jun (Elisabeth Moss)?
There have been theories going around that Serena might team up with June, as well as Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford), against Fred. So, "The Handmaid's Tale" season 3 could potentially spell Fred's ultimate end.
Hulu has not yet made any announcements regarding the return date of its award-winning series. "The Handmaid's Tale" season 3, however, might likely have an April premiere similar to the previous seasons.
