"Gilmore Girls" star Alexis Bledel joins Hulu's novel adaptation of "The Handmaid's Tale" in a major role. Rory Gilmore is trading in press credentials for a red coat and white-winged habit.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bledel will play the handmaid Ofglen paired with Offred ("Mad Men" actress Elisabeth Moss) for town errands in "The Handmaid's Tale." She eventually becomes an important character to the underground resistance and a confidant of sorts for Offred.
At first, Bledel's character Ofglen seems like a pious rule-follower, loyal to the oppressive Gilead system, in "The Handmaid's Tale," TV Line reported. However, she turns out to be daring and subversive and is also a lesbian.
Picked up straight to series, the 10-episode drama "The Handmaid's Tale" is based on the book by award-winning Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It takes place in Gilead, a futuristic but simplified world in which fertility issues abound and women's rights are a thing of the past.
In the plot of "The Handmaid's Tale," the government officials in a totalitarian society send young and fertile women, thus, called handmaids, to affluent families in order to keep the population up. These handmaids are forced to help couples procreate via sexual servitude.
Bledel's role in "The Handmaid's Tale" marks her first gig since Netflix's "Gilmore Girls" revival. Before that, she starred in Fox comedy "Us & Them," opposite Jason Ritter. The project never aired and was canceled before its premiere in 2013. Her recurring status also leaves the door open should Netflix and producers Warner Bros. Television opt to revisit "Gilmore Girls."
Bledel joins a cast of "The Handmaid's Tale" that also includes "Orange Is the New Black" actress Samira Wiley, "Camelot" actor Joseph Fiennes, "Chuck" actress Yvonne Strahovski, "The Leftovers" actress Ann Dowd, and "Hemlock Grove" actress Madeline Brewer. Reed Morano will direct and executive produce the first three episodes.
"The 100" screenwriter Bruce Miller penned the script of "The Handmaid's Tale" for the MGM TV entry and will executive produce alongside "feature film The Handmaid's Tale" Daniel Wilson, "The Sophisticated Gents" Fran Sears, "Empire" Ilene Chaiken, and "Fargo" Warren Littlefield. Atwood is on board as a consulting producer on the property, which was adapted as a feature film in 1990 starring Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, and Robert Duvall.
"The Handmaid's Tale" is set to premiere on April 26 on Hulu.
Watch the video about Alexis Bledel co-starring in Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale":