Warning: This article contains spoilers from season 5, episode 9 ofThe Handmaid’s Tale.
WhenBradley Whitfordcalls EW in late October to talkThe Handmaid’s Tale, a sense of irony looms large.
But the episode is special to Whitford for other reasons it marks his directorial debut.
Bradley Whitford as Commander Lawrence on ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.Everett Collection
BRADLEY WHITFORD:Way back in myTheWest Wingdays, I was asking to direct.
So I got the chance to write onWest Winginstead.
So I did that.
But then it was something I wanted to do onStudio 60, and I did it.
And then last summer, they let me know that I was directing.
And was it an immediate yes?
and then it’s like, just terror.
First of all, I’m an actor.
So we all have opinions about directors.
We all know, believe me, what episodes are working and what aren’t.
So it was quickly replaced by a kind of fear.
But I do want to emphasize how safe it is for me to direct [on this show].
I’m working with a crew that I love, with actors that I love.
So I didn’t have to deal with that.
And, of course, Elisabeth Moss also paved the trail forHandmaid’sactors to direct.
Lizzie [Moss] is the most impressive person I’ve ever worked with in television.
I mean, creatively, I’ve never seen anything like it.
And before she was directing, she’s been in on every draft of every script.
She’s been on every cut.
Even before she was directing, she was doing shot lists with directors and DPs.
She was nervous to direct, but she’s an incredible director.
She directed almost a third of this season.
I knew she would know what she was doing.
And Lizzie laughed at me when I said I wanted to trail her.
Ask any directors you have no idea what you’re gonna get.
Going on location is tough.
And I also thought, well, I probably won’t be in it much.
And [I get it and] I’m like, “Jesus Christ.
I’m all over this thing.”
And there’s a shooting, and military stuff.
So, no, you don’t know what you’re going to get.
[Laughs]
Tell me about that ending scene, with the shooting in Canada.
There’s certain things that you don’t anticipate.
The final shot with the flag that whole event is a night shoot.
But it was in the summer.
You’re shooting that thing in super slow motion.
But I’m timing it to a 32nd thing in the song.
But you’re shooting it at 200 frames.
So it comes out to, I don’t know three point something seconds.
So that whole shot takes place in about three seconds.
And it’s toward the end of the shoot, it’s in the final block of the year.
Our incredible crew is exhausted.
There is an incredible DP Nicola Daley, who came on the show this year.
Yeah, it would have just been a disaster.
Would you like the opportunity to direct again?
I’m not as cynical as Lawrence.
I was so grateful for the opportunity.
I really hope to do it again.
Put that in the article, so the powers that be can read it.
[Laughs]
I want to talk about Lawrence for a bit.
We’ve gotten a lot more from him this season.
Well, it’s a fascinating thing to play because he’s not static.
There’s two things that I’m always thinking about.
One, is his love for Eleanor was real.
And then, immediately when I got this part, there’s a guy, Robert McNamara.
Basically democracy and freedom, an open society that we take for granted, mistakenly, almost destroyed everybody.
So let’s turn North Korea into China.
Help me do that.
That’ll save more people than doing these sort of misguided guerrilla tactics.
So you think there is humanity there, and he’s not just a psychopath?
No, I don’t.
Do I think he just is seeking power for the sake of having power?
No, I think that was what he didbeforeyou met him.
So no, that would not interest me at all.
He’s done that.
This is something different.
Yeah, I don’t think Lawrence is in complete control.
I think he’s powerful in Gilead, but I don’t think he’s in complete control.
And I think people like MacKenzie want to take her out.
You hear those Canadian trucks honking?
That’s the sound of the death of open society in Canada.
You’re holding on to something that doesn’t exist anymore.
I can keep you safe.
I know it’s not ideal.
I know it’s a horrible quandary to put you in."
But yeah, I think she’s in a lot of danger.
What can we expect in the season finale?
I think I kind of have to leave it at that.
[Laughs]
And what about Lawrence?
How are things going for him?
I don’t think he’s in as much control as he wants to be.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
