While “The Handmaid’s Tale” was first published in 1985, viewers of the Hulu series based on the novel couldn’t help notice the current parallels, especially following the election of Donald Trump and the backlash against immigrants in countries like the UK.
Series showrunner Bruce Miller, who won his first Emmy for outstanding writing for a drama series for “The Handmaid’s Tale,” said that people can’t help and see those similarities, even if the story wasn’t written in 2017.
“Everything that happened in the novel happened somewhere in the world to women,” Miller told reporters after his win.
Of course, the show was set in our current era, which helped quite a bit.
“The whole show is set in our time. It makes sense to have a show like that that,” he added. “You just want it to be as terrifying as possible and that comes from it being as relatable as possible.”
It’s part of the reason why the show resonated with so many people.
“The book had exactly the same kind of following,” he said. “Begging Margaret Atwood to tell us more shows that the books have been magnetic.”
Miller and the rest of the cast and crew have spoken about how the show became politically relevant in the age of Trump and Miller touched upon that as well.
“Nowadays people are worried they live in a society where big things happening… such a terrible oppressive situation and still find ways to rebel,” he said.
The show has been picked up for a second season. The first wasn’t written with Trump and the current political age in mind and the second season won’t be either, but Miller added that it’s impossible to not even be thinking about it.
“Its kind of on an unconscious level,” he said when asked if Season 2 would feature any current parallels. “We’re a very plugged in group of writers… I don’t think you can help but have it affect you.”
“You don’t want to make up violence towards women, you can do that all day long,” he added.
The actors had to enact horrible pieces of violence from the show, including rape and murder.
“There’s so much, our cast is astonishing,” Miller said. “The very first episode… where the handmaids tear apart a purported rapist… it was horrifying and it turned out everything I didn’t want it to be and more.”
Emmys 2017: Red Carpet Arrivals (Photos)
Emmys 2017 red carpet arrivals
TV personality, Kristin Cavallari
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"Feud" star Jackie Hoffman
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"Modern Family" star Rico Rodriguez
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"The People v. O. J. Simpson" star Sterling K. Brown with wife, Ryan Michelle Bathe
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"Dancing With the Stars" star Julianne Hough
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"Atlanta" star Brian Tyree Henry
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TV personality Billy Eichner
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"Modern Family" star Jeremy Maguire
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"Veep" star Anna Chlumsky
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"Black-ish" star Miles Brown
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TV personality Giuliana Rancic
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"13 Reasons Why" star Brandon Flynn
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"Stranger Things" cast Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin
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"13 Reasons Why" actress Ajiona Alexus
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"Black-ish" star Anthony Anderson with his wife Alvina Stewart
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"This Is Us" star Chris Sullivan
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"Power" star Anika Noni Rose
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"Silicon Valley" star Amanda Crew
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"Insecure" creator and star Issa Rae
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"Modern Family" star Nolan Gould
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"Better Call Saul" star Jonathan Banks
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TV personality Padma Lakshmi
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"New Girl" Lamorne Morris
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"Westworld" star Tessa Thompson
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"Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown
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"American Crime" star Felicity Huffman
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"Modern Family" star Sarah Hyland
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"Fargo" star Carrie Coon
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"Mad Men" star Kiernan Shipka
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"Black-ish" star Marsai Martin
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"Orange Is the New Black" star Laverne Cox
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"Modern Family" star Sofia Vergara
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Academy Award winning actress, Jane Fonda
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"Black-ish" star Yara Shahidi
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"House of Cards" star Joel Kinnaman
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"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" star Rachel Bloom
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"The Handmaids Tale" star Yvonne Strahovski
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"Transparent" star Judith Light
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TV personality James Corden
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"Silicon Valley" star Kumail Nanjiani
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"Orange Is the New Black" star Uzo Aduba
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"The Sinner" star Jessica Biel
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"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" star Tituss Burgess
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"American Crime" star Regina King
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"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" star Ellie Kemper
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"Orange Is the New Black" star Madeline Brewer
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"mother!" star Michelle Pfeiffer
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"Saturday Night Live" star Kate McKinnon
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"America's Got Talent" judge Heidi Klum
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"Black-ish" star Tracee Ellis Ross
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"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter
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"Transparent" star Kathryn Hahn
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"Westworld" star Angela Sarafyan
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TV personality Seth Meyers
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"The Crown" star Claire Foy
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"How to Get Away With Murder" star Viola Davis with husband Julius Tennon
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"Jane the Virgin" star Gina Rodriguez
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"Saturday Night Live" star Leslie Jones
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"The Handmaid's Tale" star Elisabeth Moss
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"Shameless" star Emmy Rossum
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"The Mayor" star Lea Michelle
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"Westworld" star Jeffrey Wright
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"Stranger Things" star Shannon Purser
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"Big Little Lies" star Nicole Kidman
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"Big Little Lies" star Zoe Kravitz
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"Big Little Lies" star Reese Witherspoon
"Big Little Lies" star Laura Dern
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"Stranger Things" stars Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton
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"Big Little Lies" star Shailene Woodley
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"The Night Of" star Riz Ahmed
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"Angie Tribeca" star Rashida Jones
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"The Boss Baby" star Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin
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"American Horror Story" star Matt Bomer
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"Will & Grace" star Debra Messing
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"NCIS: Los Angeles" star LL Cool J
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"Westworld" star Thandie Newton
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"Baskets" star Zach Galifianakis
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"The Handmaid's Tale" star Samira Wiley
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"Quantico" star Priyanka Chopra
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"Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus
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"Feud" stars Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon
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"Mom" star Allison Janey
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"Westworld" star Evan Rachel Wood
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"American Horror Story" star Sarah Paulson
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"Master of None" star Aziz Ansari
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"Black Mirror" star Gugu Mbatha-Raw
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"Stranger Things" actor David Harbour
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"This Is Us" star Chrissy Metz
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See what your favorite TV stars are wearing as they arrive at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles for the 69th annual Primetime Emmy Awards