June experienced motherhood in a whole new way.
June (Elisabeth Moss) was already a mother before Gilead turned her into Offred, but she experienced motherhood in a whole new way in season two of The Handmaid's Tale.
ET has an exclusive featurette from the Hulu drama's upcoming DVD/Blu-ray set, in which the cast discuss how one pregnancy set the tone of the show for season two.
"Gilead is built on motherhood. It is the whole reason the place exists, and so the characters are mostly focused around the fact that Offred is pregnant," Handmaid's creator and executive producer Bruce Miller says in the clip. "She is dealing with this very different kind of motherhood, where she is having a child with someone other than her husband. She's having a child that she doesn't believe she's going to get a chance to raise or know."
The season chronicled June's many escape attempts, with the finale leading fans to believe that she was finally on her way out of Gilead, with her newborn daughter in tow. However, it was June's decision to stay -- sending her baby away with Emily (Alexis Bledel) to seemingly fight from the inside to save her older daughter, Hannah -- that might be the ultimate maternal act.
For Max Minghella, who plays Nick, the real father of Offred's baby, just her pregnancy has life-altering effects for those involved.
"I think for Offred or Nick, one of the hardest things about having this child out in the world that is theirs, and yet they have no contact with, is it against all of your parental instincts, and human instincts?" he asks. "And a lot of Gilead is about stripping away humanity, I think."
"The whole season is set up with the expectation of what motherhood will have on Offred, but also for Serena and for Fred and the household," adds Joseph Fiennes, who plays Commander Waterford. "I think, essentially, for him, from a Gilead male perspective, it's all about the reward and the ability now to be recognized as a commander that is fulfilling the Gilead promise of repopulation."
Season two of The Handmaid's Tale is available on DVD and Blu-ray on Dec. 4. See more on the show in the video below.
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