The Handmaid’s Tale star Ann Dowd has confirmed that the dystopian drama will be returning for a sixth season.
The Emmy-winning drama, which is adapted from Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, was renewed for a fifth season in 2020 however there was no official word as to whether the show would stretch to season 6.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview for The Big RT Interview ahead of the UK release of Mass – Fran Kranz’s powerful film – Dowd said that while she didn’t know much about what might happen in season 5, she did know about the future of The Handmaid’s Tale.
“Well, the writers are very smart. They don’t tell actors anything. What would I say about it? No, I don’t have a clue at all about what will be happening. I do know that there’s a season five and six.”
When asked when filming is due to begin, Dowd said: “End of January.”
Dowd stars as Aunt Lydia – an official in charge of re-educating and monitoring the Handmaids in the dystopian country of Gilead – in the drama, which released its fourth season back in April last year.
Dowd won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series back in 2017, alongside her co-star Elisabeth Moss while the show itself won Outstanding Drama Series at the awards.
The series is set in a world where American has been taken over by the totalitarian government of Gilead, which has imprisoned the few fertile women remaining in the country and forced them to become natal slaves for wealthier citizens.
Moss plays the protagonist June, who organises a rebellion against the Gilead authorities and plans an escape for herself, the other Handmaids and the children they’ve given birth to.
You can read the full interview in an upcoming edition of The Big RT Interview with Ann Dowd and Reed Birney.
Mass arrives on Sky Cinema and in cinemas on 20th January. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.