“I needed to go home and have a hot bath and a hug,” the actress tells TheWrap of filming the gruesome Episode 7 scene
Madeline Brewer, who stars as the beloved Janine on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” unpacked what it felt like filming that bloody Jezebels massacre and how she was empowered to channel Janine’s inner June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) during the gruesome scene in Episode 7.
“That loss is so extraordinary. I can still remember how my body felt after that scene,” Brewer told TheWrap. “I needed to go home and have a hot bath and have a hug. I think I was hugging people [on set]. I just needed to regulate myself. It was tough. I was in very safe hands. That’s why we can go to places we go to on the show — we’re very safe and held and supported.”
Welp, it’s all Nick’s fault (Max Minghella). No, but seriously, if Nick wouldn’t have told Commander Wharton (Josh Charles) about Mayday’s plans, all the women in Gilead’s local brothel Jezebels would still be alive.
For those who don’t remember, in Episode 6, titled “Surprise,” Nick revealed Mayday’s Jezebels takedown plans to Wharton after the high-profile official became suspicious of Nick’s recent behavior. In an effort to save his own behind from ending up on the wall, Nick spilled the beans, which resulted in the Jezebels women being brutally murdered in Episode 7, “Shattered.” The only woman who made it out alive was Janine, whom Commander Bell (Timothy Simons) instructed to have removed so that he could re-assign her to his home.
But before a Gilead eye pulled her out of the lineup, just as he was about to fatally shooting the group, Janine stood in front of the women, hoping the guards would spare their lives in exchange for hers. Brewer said the episode’s director Daina Reid encouraged her to explore how she felt Janine would react.
“Luckily, we had a director, Daina Reed, directing that episode, who I’ve worked with on ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ I’ve also worked with her on ‘Shining Girls.’” Brewer explained. “She’s so brilliant, but she’s also so compassionate and gave me a lot of of room to to express what I felt like Janine would express, to get in front of those girls the way June would. Because, I mean, that was a lot of channeling June, embracing who Janine is at that point when she finds herself in Jezebel.”
She continued: “She’s actually, ironically experiencing some of the most some freedom in Gilead, more so than she has at any other time, and it was important to me to have especially those final moments, really rock her in that she has established true friendship, true love and companionship with these women. They take care of each other, and that’s what women do when we’re at our best, we take care of each other.”
By the end of the episode, an angry and vengeful June devises a plan of attack to take place during Serena and Commander Wharton’s wedding. We’ll have to wait and see if it falls into action. In the meantime, Commander Bell has forced to Janine to live with him and his family.
