O-T Fagbenle, who plays Luke in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, has a theory about where the sixth and final season is headed—and it has everything to do with Margaret Atwood.
There have certainly been a number of twists and turn over five seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale, but O-T Fagbenle has a theory about where season six is headed.
The actor, who plays husband Luke Bankole to titular ex-handmaid June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) in the long-running Hulu series, has stepped up to an even larger role as the show has shifted partially to Canada with June reuniting with Luke. But with only one season left to wrap all the drama up, Fagbenle points to a key piece of Margaret Atwood‘s work as a direction for where the final chapter is going.
While Fagbenle made sure to clarify that he doesn’t know for sure since “they don’t tell underlings like me stuff like that, for good reason,” he believes that the series will make sure to line the ending up with Atwood’s 2019 sequel novel, The Testaments.
“I imagine to some extent, they’re gonna have to start heading in that direction,” he told E! News exclusively. “For consistency’s sake.”
In 2019, Hulu, MGM and Handmaid’s Tale showrunner Bruce Miller announced that they were in talks to adapt the sequel, but it wasn’t yet clear if the book would be incorporated into the original series or developed into a new spin-off entirely.
But what does Fagbenle think could happen?
“I’m always like, ‘Would there be money in it?'” he quipped. “If there is, then probably. I’m not a math man, though!”
As for now, Fagbenle is focusing on this season of The Handmaid’s Tale, where Luke just escaped capture by the Wheelers’ team after having followed June back into Gilead. And this loyalty to June, Fagbenle noted, has only grown over the course of the show—especially after his first brush with being locked up.
“I think the people who are the most brash and bullying, they’re the most insecure people, you know?” the actor explained. “I think for Luke, he’s dealing with so much guilt and remorse. He wants redemption, so that’s very motivating.”
