Hulu subscribers have to wait until April 25, but for a select few the streaming service unveiled the first episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale” season two Thursday night at the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Friday night. And, of course, the handmaid herself, Elisabeth Moss, took center stage.
Before the premiere began series showrunner Bruce Miller and executive producer Warren Littlefield made some short remarks before introducing the cast on hand including Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Emmy-winner Ann Dowd (somehow even better in the new episodes), Emmy-winner Alexis Bledel (who has a larger role on season two), Max Minghella, Samira Wiley Moira and Madeline Brewer, among others (Yvonne Strahovski was under the weather and unable to attend).
Moss, who won her first Emmy for her performance as Offred/June in the acclaimed adaptation of Margaret Atwood‘s dystopian novel, is also an executive producer on the series. When handed the microphone she made sure to thank her cast mates and also praised the fans for supporting the show, a number of whom were given tickets to this first screening. She also insisted everyone sing “Happy Birthday” to Miller’s 19-year-old son which she joked afterward likely embarrassed him (probably).
Hulu went all out for the event with handmaids walking the red carpet and #ResistSister branded displays for attendees to gawk at as they left the theater. Each set up featured fire surrounding handmaid’s uniforms on display as attendees left the theater and you can view video of them in the Instagram post embedded in this story. The premiere was followed by a swank party at the Chateau Marmont where Moss, who is arguably as stellar the second time around, took long rounds of congratulations.
The new season of “Handmaid’s” is 13 episodes long and the first six have been made available to screen to members of the media. Creatively the series have expanded the world and the increasing flashbacks that hint at the festering rebellion under America’s noses that caused the authoritarian Republic of Gilead to is often hard to watch because it simply feels too real. Performance wise Olsen, Dowd, Bledel and Strahovski are uniformly incredible.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” season two premieres on Hulu with the first two episodes available for streaming on April 25.
