<P> June Osborne, renamed Offred (Elisabeth Moss), is the Handmaid assigned to the home of Gileadan Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski). She is subject to the strictest rules and constant scrutiny; an improper word or deed on her part can lead to brutal punishment . Offred, who is named after her male master like all Handmaids, can remember the "time before", when she was married with a daughter and had her own name and identity, but all she can safely do now is follow the rules of Gilead in the hope that she can someday live free and be reunited with her daughter . The Waterfords, key players in the rise of Gilead, have their own conflicts with the realities of the society they have helped create . </P> <Ul> <Li> Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne / Offred, a woman who was captured attempting to flee the country with her husband Luke and daughter Hannah . Due to her fertility she becomes a handmaid to Commander Fred Waterford and his wife, Serena Joy, and is named "Offred". </Li> <Li> Joseph Fiennes as Commander Fred Waterford, a high - ranking government official and June's master . Both he and his wife played an instrumental role in Gilead's founding . He wishes to connect with June outside of what Gilead dictates is lawful between a handmaid and her master, and starts inviting her to nightly games of Scrabble . </Li> <Li> Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Waterford, Fred's wife and a former conservative cultural activist who appears to have accepted her new limited role in a society she helped create . She is poised and deeply religious, but capable of great cruelty and is often callous in her treatment of June . She is desperate to become a mother . </Li> <Li> Alexis Bledel as Emily / Ofglen, June's shopping partner . Although June is initially wary of her, it is revealed she is not as pious as she seems and the two become friends . She had a wife and son, and was a university lecturer in cellular biology . Being homosexual is punishable by death under Gilead and most university professors are sent to labor camps, but she was spared due to her fertility . She is later captured and punished for her relationship with a Martha, and is sent to another household where she becomes "Ofsteven". She is involved with a resistance movement called "Mayday". </Li> <Li> Madeline Brewer as Janine / Ofwarren, a handmaid who entered the Red Center for training at the same time as June, and considers June a friend due to her kind treatment . Initially non-compliant, her right eye is removed as a punishment . She becomes mentally unstable due to her treatment, and often behaves in temperamental or childlike ways . She gives birth to a child for Warren and Naomi Putnam; they name her "Angela" but Janine insists that her name is "Charlotte". She is later reassigned and becomes "Ofdaniel". </Li> <Li> Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia, a woman in charge of overseeing the handmaids in their education and duty . She is brutal and subjects insubordinate handmaids to harsh physical punishment, but also cares for the handmaids and believes deeply in their mission and the Gilead doctrine . She appears to have a soft spot for Janine, even going so far as to address her by her given name on occasion . </Li> <Li> O.T. Fagbenle as Luke Bankole, June's husband from before Gilead . As June is his second wife, their union is considered invalid in the new society and Hannah is considered illegitimate . Initially June believes him to have been killed, but it is later revealed that he managed to escape to Canada . </Li> <Li> Max Minghella as Nick Blaine, Commander Waterford's driver and a former drifter from Michigan who has feelings for June . June and Nick develop an intimate relationship, and she eventually discovers that he is an Eye, a spy for Gilead . </Li> <Li> Samira Wiley as Moira, June's best friend since college . She is already at the Red Center when June enters handmaid training; but is able to escape before being assigned to a home . She is recaptured and becomes "Ruby", a Jezebel . She seems to have given up hope of ever being free, but upon meeting June again regains the conviction to attempt another escape . </Li> <Li> Amanda Brugel as Rita, a Martha at the Waterford home . She once had a son who died fighting in the civil war when he was nineteen years old . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne / Offred, a woman who was captured attempting to flee the country with her husband Luke and daughter Hannah . Due to her fertility she becomes a handmaid to Commander Fred Waterford and his wife, Serena Joy, and is named "Offred". </Li> <Li> Joseph Fiennes as Commander Fred Waterford, a high - ranking government official and June's master . Both he and his wife played an instrumental role in Gilead's founding . He wishes to connect with June outside of what Gilead dictates is lawful between a handmaid and her master, and starts inviting her to nightly games of Scrabble . </Li>

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