Alexis Bledel Gives Details On Her Handmaid's Tale Character

Alexis Bledel quietly joined Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale amid all of the hype over Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, and, although many wouldn't see any similarities between the two vastly different shows, Bledel says that Stars Hollow and the dystopian Gilead actually do have something in common. "They're both very distinctly their own worlds," she told TVLine. "They are complete in their design, full of detail and very rich. They're satisfying places to work."

In the upcoming adaptation of Margaret Atwood's feminist sci-fi novel, Bledel plays Ofglen, a handmaid in a future where women have been subjected to sexual servitude in order to keep the population from plummeting. Ofglen, who at first appears like a loyal follower of the regime, is actually a lesbian with a desire to "create change." "She wants to right a lot of the wrongs that are happening around her to people she knows," said Bledel. "She's getting these tidbits of information from different sources that she seeks out, and it's a lot of depressing news all the time. And it lights a fire in her and makes her want to fight back... She's been through a lot and she's mad. And she's determined to do something about it."

From the footage we've seen thus far, it seems like The Handmaid's Tale is going to do Atwood's novel justice, a sentiment which Bledel seems to agree with as well. The actress said she was "blown away by the ambition" of the 10-episode show, which will be released on April 26. Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Yvonna Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Max Minghella, and O.T. Fagbenle also star. While we wait for the series to be released, check out the other TV shows that will blow everyone away in 2017.