As in the dystopian fictional world of The Handmaid’s Tale, in real life, entering Canada was one of the biggest obstacles of the upcoming fourth season of the Hulu drama.
Although the blockade of the Elisabeth Moss series in the lead role is more about the coronavirus pandemic than escaping a totalitarian theocracy.
“The biggest change is honestly that it was difficult to get our cast in Canada to shoot,” Maid’s showrunner Bruce Miller admitted to the show during today’s virtual TCA panel.
The series, based on Margaret Atwood’s famous 1985 novel, has been filmed in and around Toronto since its first season.
Forced to close like almost every other production around the world due to the escalating Covid-19 crisis last year, when the Handmaid’s Tale increased this past fall that the fact that it was filmed north of the border is in some ways an agreement.
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In an effort to contain the pandemic, Canada closed its doors to America early, as did the case in the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. Although Canadian citizens and essential workers, who have been designated as professionals in the entertainment industry, have been allowed to travel to the Great White North, provinces such as Ontario have until recently had mandatory 14-day quarantines.
“So we had to keep people out of episodes because they did not have enough time in their schedule,” Miller added about the impact the policy had on Maid’s production. ‘I mean, people are very friendly to fly anywhere to Canada for a day’s work. So many of our cast members like Clea DuVall, these people who work very hard on other shows. So that was the biggest change. ”
Of course, Gilead plays a major role in the world of, even if escaping from Canada to despotic Maid’s, travel was not the only area where the coronavirus had an impact on the show
“There definitely had to be a lot of things changed in the show,” Miller remarked. “Just the practical reality of producing and making the show on the ground was very difficult, but the people in front of the camera mostly tried to protect us from the space.”
“We reduced the number of people in scenes and places, like where we decided to shoot, was a very big question because sometimes we could not get things,” the showrunner and executive producer said when his fellow EPs Moss and Warren Littlefield look and nod. “Sometimes we had five people in front of the camera, sometimes 20 people in front of the camera. So throughout the season we constantly adjusted the text and the story. ”
With Moss also directing three episodes behind the camera for the first time, the 10-episode is the fourth season of The Handmaid’s Tale debuted with a trio of deliveries on April 28 on the Disney-controlled streamer. After just wrapping up today, Moss helped the third installment, which Miller wrote down, as well as episodes eight and nine.
Still draws from elements of Atwood’s book and has the rights to her published sequel in 2019 The Wills, The Handmaid’s Tale was renewed by Hulu in December for a fifth season. However, Miller made it clear today that he does not intend to end the Emmy-winning show.
“As long as Lizzie will do it with me, I’ll keep going,” Miller complained of the laughter of Moss and Littlefield. ‘There’s a lot of life in this story. I’m definitely fascinated by what’s happening in the Testaments, and if it’s going to be part of our future, it’s a bigger question. ”
The Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Bradley Whitford, Ann Dowd and Max Minghella, along with Handmaid’s, are executive producers by Moss, Miller, Littlefield, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Eric Tuchman, John Weber, Frank Siracusa , Sheila Hockin, Kira Snyder and Yahlin Chang.