Alexis Bledel Won’t Appear in Season 5 of Hulu Reality Show

Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Good-bye, Gilead. Per Variety, Alexis Bledel will be exiting The Handmaid’s Tale before season five of the Hulu reality series— sorry, dystopian drama. “After much thought, I felt I had to step away from The Handmaid’s Tale at this time,” Bledel said in a statement. “I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and crew for their support.” In The Handmaid’s Tale, Bledel’s Emily becomes Ofglen, a “handmaid” for a man and an errand partner for Elisabeth Moss’s character, Offred. Based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, Bruce Miller’s show imagines an America that operates under a religious, male-dominated dictatorship. Of course, the horrors of this society are not completely fictional; governmental control over the bodies of Black and brown women, for example, is part of the reality of the founding of this country. But with the imminent overturning of Roe v. Wade reigniting debate about abortion rights, perhaps the upcoming season of The Handmaid’s Tale may feel like it hits even closer to home. In any case, the show will continue without Bledel, who’s certainly not leaving empty-handed. In 2017, Vulture called Emily/Ofglen the role that Bledel was “born to play.” With one win and four nominations, the actress also earned some praise from the Emmys, which we guess counts for something too.