The Handmaid's Tale season 5 spoilers follow.
The Handmaid's Tale star Yvonne Strahovski revealed she was concerned about fan reactions to her role as Serena Waterford.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Strahovski opened up about the response to her character, saying that while fans don't associate her with Serena in real life, she was worried that they would when the show first aired.
"That was a very real fear of mine early on when we started the show though. I was genuinely worried that I would get weird reactions from people," she said.
Related: The Handmaid's Tale season 4 recap
She added: "But I haven’t, I haven’t at all. Maybe because people know me from other shows that are totally different to this one. Thankfully, it’s all been lovely."
Following the show's season 5 premiere last month, Strahovski also spoke to Digital Spy about her character's journey and what fans can expect from the upcoming season of the show.
Following season 4's brutal murder of Commander Fred Waterford at the hands of June and several other handmaids, season 5 sees Serena enact her revenge against June for her role in the death of her husband.
Related: The Handmaid's Tale season 5 finds a new UK home
In episode two, we saw Serena hold a televised funeral for Fred, which concluded with June and Luke's daughter Hannah standing next to Serena in full view of the cameras — something which Strahovski described as "Serena’s ultimate FU to June".
"That's really setting up the season," she said, explaining how the moment sets up June's plot to get her daughter back.
"I think that this is Serena’s ultimate FU to June for murdering Fred, really. This is a huge, big, fat warning."
The Handmaid's Tale streams on Hulu in the US and both Channel 4 and Prime Video in the UK.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Brenna Cooper is a freelance journalist, who currently specialises in entertainment reporting. She joined Digital Spy in 2022, writing TV and movies stories for the site. After graduating with an NCTJ accredited Journalism Masters from the University of Sheffield in 2020 she has since embarked on a freelance career.
Brenna previously produced lifestyle content for Checklists.co.uk and has a specific interest in music, reviewing live acts and interviewing bands such as Confidence Man and Amyl and the Sniffers.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
