When The Handmaid’s Tale concludes its sixth and final season, its ending will be a treat for fans.
During an appearance on the April 16 episode of The Rich Eisen Show, Sam Jaeger — who takes on the role of Mark Tuello, a representative of the American government, on the hit series — teased what viewers can expect from the upcoming series finale.
Based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, Hulu drama is set in a dystopian world where a nation called Gilead has taken over the former United States. It deals with heavy subjects like identity politics, rape and losing bodily autonomy as fertile women are forced to become Handmaids and bear children for Gilead officers and their barren wives.
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“It’s a hard show. It was a hard show to watch for some seasons, and I think we knew that,” Jaeger said of the series. “We want to reward the fans this year, because we put them through hell and it’s just a really riveting season and a fitting finish.”
“A lot of times people try to end shows, and they don’t know how,” he continued, adding that he thought writers “really stuck the landing” with the show’s ending. “You don’t want to be lost. I understand for all intents and purposes, you want to feel like we got to the end, and people feel satiated, but it also feels true to the show.”
Because the show deals with dark themes, Jaeger also revealed that the cast liked to diffuse the tension by cracking jokes and participating in fun group activities.
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“The people that work with me all have great senses of humor and don’t take themselves too seriously,” he said. “We have a great time on the show and then we go into shooting this harrowing scene, and then come out of it. I think you need that levity or else what’s the point of living?”
He recalled how the cast took a group “hip hop class together” while filming the last season.
“Yvonne Strahovski is big into dancing,” he continued. “We did that collectively which was humiliating. But you know, I do what I can. I get in there and I cut a rug.”
In addition to Jaeger and Strahovski, the series stars Elisabeth Moss, Bradley Whitford, Max Minghella, Ann Dowd, Samira Wiley, O.T. Fagbenle, Madeline Brewer, Amanda Brugel and Ever Carradine.
New episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale drop Tuesdays on Hulu.
