'The Handmaid's Tale': Joseph Fiennes refused to film brutal rape scene because "Fred is a human"
If there's one thing that stands out in Hulu's 'The Handmaid Tale', it's how radical the show is with its depiction of a gritty, dark world. As it turns out, sometimes things get so outrageous that even the cast thinks it's taking everything a bit too far. Like this one particular scene from the second season, where Commander Fred Waterford and his wife, Serena, had gone on a diplomatic visit across the Gilead-Canada border, and the culmination of the scene was originally planned to show her getting raped. But actor Joseph Fiennes, who is the face behind the role of Fred, put his foot down and refused to film the scene.
Fiennes addressed the issue in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, recalling how he decided to stick to his decision, he said: "I guess in many ways, as abhorrent and nasty and evil as Fred is, I have to defend parts of him."