The Handmaid's Tale star, Ann Dowd, explains how she foresees her character Aunt Lydia evolving into season 5. Starting in 2017, the Hulu Original has been the biggest draw for the streaming platform. Based on the 1985 novel, the show offers social commentary, tremendous acting, and oftentimes, scenes that are hard to stomach. Season 4 just finished its run with an ambiguous ending, so audiences will have to wait to see what direction the show goes in next.
The season 4 finale followed up on many of the promises that the show has been making for quite some time now. What happens next for June (Elisabeth Moss) is still very much up in the air. She now has an even more complicated connection with Serena (Yvonne Strahovski), who remains in captivity. However, the finale never went back to Gilead, where Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) and Janine (Madeline Brewer) have become the primary point-of-view characters.
In an interview with THR, Dowd spoke about the character of Aunt Lydia. As one of the most feared, yet complex characters in the series, she is conflicted between the values instilled in her by Gilead and her desire to look after those she cares about. Dowd mentioned how Aunt Lydia walks the fine line between the love she has for Janine and June, and the anger that enrages within her over the betrayals of the handmaids. Read below for Dowd's statement regarding Aunt Lydia's evolution:
It wouldn’t surprise me if she steps in with the renewed confidence of someone who has found her footing again. Will she soften? I think I read it in one of the scripts that the rebels are not as plentiful among the Handmaids anymore. The Junes and Moiras [played by Samira Wiley], that level of “f**k you” is not [there]. I don’t think Lydia will have any problem getting order and following what she needs to follow to keep things moving.
Along with The Handmaid's Tale season 5, Hulu also purchased the rights to the The Testaments, which is the sequel to the novel, so expect a lot more to come from this series. The 2019 novel takes place 15 years after its predecessor, and it follows Aunt Lydia, a young woman in Gilead named Agnes, and a Canadian woman named Daisy. With Aunt Lydia becoming an even larger perspective character as of late, it seems like a natural transition.
Gilead is hardly recognizable without signs of an active resistance. It is a breath of fresh air to see June out of the country, although the remainder of season 4 shows that the battle is far from over. Aunt Lydia has faced many difficulties of her own, but she has reclaimed her footing as an Aunt. However, her story is not going back to what it was; it is moving forward along with Janine and some fresh faces. The Handmaid's Tale has a lot of room to continue the growth of Dowd's powerful representation of Aunt Lydia.
Source: THR