‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Bradley Whitford Calls Elisabeth Moss the ‘Most Interesting Person’ He’s Acted Opposite

Season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale begins right where Season 2 left off, with June (Elisabeth Moss) dealing with the repercussions of her choice to stay in Gilead for her daughter Hannah while Emily (Alexis Bledel) flees with baby Nichole. The first person to find June in her state? The unusual man who set up her daring escape plan: Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford).

Perhaps the most unusual relationship in The Handmaid’s Tale is the one between June and Lawrence. She is, according to the law, his new handmaid. In reality, the two are engaged in an unsettling game of chicken, trying to probe the other to figure out if there’s a potential partner there. Lawrence is the primary architect of Gilead, and while he has some reservations about the human cost, it’s unclear if he’s willing to go full rebel with June.

This tense relationship also reunites two of actors from one of the most celebrated television shows in history, The West Wing. Whitford delivered a career-defining performance in the Aaron Sorkin drama as Josh Lyman, while a teenaged Moss used the show as a springboard for future critical successes.

Decider sat down with Whitford this week and found out what he thought of Lawrence’s unique perspective on Gilead, what it’s like working with Moss as an adult, and why his character is so fond of those dashing scarves.

**SPOILERS FOR THE HANDMAID’S TALE SEASON 3, EPISODES 1-3 AHEAD**

DECIDER: So first things first. I love the book scene in Episode 3 because it’s this crazy torture scene. June’s a book editor and he brings it up in front of all the Commanders, and asks her to find The Descent of Man on the shelf. What was it like filming that, and how do you think Lawrence felt in that moment? What was the purpose of that?

BRADLEY WHITFORD: It’s excruciating, making a woman walk in front of men. I think there’s a lot of testing going on. I don’t think Lawrence has a predetermined linear plan about what is gonna happen. In a weird way, his life is in her hands and if these things are gonna go in a certain direction he has to test her. There is a danger all the time, I really don’t think he knows where this is gonna go. But I think he knows he is potentially collaborating with someone and he needs to know that this is not just from his point of view. A sentimental woman who’s obviously not the most woke person. He tests her in different ways. He tests her by making her choose, I think the third episode, he wants to see how she can deal with these situations and under pressure. There’s a horrible thing, I don’t know how much it reads to the audience, but there’s real danger there. Because she can be killed for just reading. So what he’s asking her to do, if she were to on her own find the book, it’s a capital offense.

He’s also distracting — he’s doing a couple things there — there’s division in the room among the men. And he is manipulating them, bringing them together with the timeless, joyous spectator sport of misogynistic objectifying and testing women. [sarcastically] Aren’t men fantastic?

His relationship with his wife, though, is really fascinating to me. She seems to be his Achilles heel in a way. Also, I feel like I haven’t seen him take part in the Handmaid’s ritual with June. Is that part of that marital relationship and that love?

It’s again one of those double-edged things. It’s a beautiful thing, he loves his wife. He is aware that what he’s done has broken his wife. Which is heartbreaking. Which on the one hand is a fantastic number of humanity, on the other hand, it’s a little pathetic that you can cause that much carnage and not feel it until it hits home.

But that relationship is real. And he loves her very much and is taking care of her. With the ceremony, there are complexities surrounding that coming-up.

It’s mentioned that he doesn’t like to be bored, but sometimes I couldn’t tell if what motivated him was boredom or guilt. He seems to actually be affected, as you said, because of his wife’s brokenness. Does it change for you from scene to scene or do you think that he is bored, does he have guilt, or it is a range of emotions that he’s feeling?

This is truly one of the most fascinating characters I’ve gotten to play. It’s precisely because it’s not a static state. It’s not a static trajectory, either morally or motivationally. He is constantly in play. I keep thinking of Robert MacNamara, who was the architect in the Vietnam War. A brilliant, brilliant well-intentioned human being who took all the innovation that revolutionized the auto industry in Ford and applied his brilliance into exterminating a great amount of people in Southeast Asia.

I think this is a guy whose humanity got obliterated by his big brain. That egotistical attachment of putting his ideas into play. I think he’s very defensive about this. When he’s challenged…you know this is chemo. Chemo is not pleasant. Truly from his point of view, it was the end of the world. He’s one of those rare people who would say, ‘I’m not unaware of the cost of this. But there’s a reason of doing it.’

He’s constantly in play, and because he’s in play he can appear even more harsh. Because he gets very defensive. What’s striking and feels so electric in the scene is [June] sees him. Nobody sees him. Even his wife doesn’t. Nobody sees him. Nobody understands him. For a long time. And I don’t think he understands why he is intrigued by her. But it is compounded by the striking fact that she is the only human being, probably in decades, that has been able to see him and have the brass balls, the brass ovaries, to challenge him.

In my brain as a TV fan, when I see you and Elisabeth Moss, I think West Wing, even though you didn’t have many scenes with her back then. What’s it like now to go toe-to-toe with Elisabeth Moss in these scenes? With her at her full power?

I remember the day I met her, in a kitchen set. I think she was 17, and she was so great. Most of her stuff was with Dulé [Hill] and Stockard [Channing] and Martin [Sheen]. But to come back and see this person as not only a grown woman, but giving the performance of a generation… Absolutely the most interesting person I’ve acted with, and I’ve acted with a lot of interesting people.

I can’t tell you the level of pride and admiration I have. It’s jarring because she’s gone from this really talented young kid to somebody who inspires me in terms of her…again she’s doing “Sophie’s Choice the TV series.” It is a relentless emotional anvil on her shoulder. And her kindness to everybody involved, [she’s] instinctively kind and open, and she is an absolutely real producer on this. She knows the story, she knows the shots. She is a touchstone.

I have one more question, and it’s a silly question. It’s about the waistcoat and vest look you have on the show. I like his style! He’s got a cravat thing going on. I felt bad looking at Lawrence and being like, “He’s got some style going on.” How did you feel about the clothes and how they made you feel in the character?

I am not overstating this: That costume fitting was the most interesting costume fitting in my life. Coming up with this costume, there was a certain arrogance we wanted to get across. There’s a certain armor to it. It gets into weird irrational places. I wanted him brazen, but covered. There’s nothing more vulnerable I just read — part of the reason I went for the scarf thing — a universal thing is the vulnerability of exposing your neck. So it’s kind of an intellectual idea, but these are kind of irrational things.

And I thought it would be interesting if there’s something brazen, but constipated.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 3 debuted on Hulu today. Episodes 1-3 are all available to stream on the service. 

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.