httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0xxDfe6hTM
“I think with Fred t’s a sense that he espouses the party line,” Fiennes told IndieWire.
“T’s a psychological fallout, and I think Fred is really one that suffers from that, and he kind of deals with it by taking it out on the women in his household, to reclaim his sense of power, because often in the work of men, they can get a sense of being demasculinized, if that’s the word. I think that’s a really important scene in terms of how he interacts with the women in the household.”
As Fiennes noted, “It’s curious that at that moment, when Gilead came into effect, that women weren’t allowed to keep that voice, that he never stood up and said, ‘I disagree with that.’ That’s the biggest failing, I think that he actually loved the idea that he would get a chance to have a voice and didn’t protect his wife on that. I think it’s sort of, ‘I’ve been given a desk, a suit, this place of authority, and I’m not going to let Serena actually come near to taking that, or challenging that.'”.
Fiennes clearly thinks about all of these issues deeply – the evidence being how much Fiennes looks to communicate with showrunner Bruce Miller about the show.
How does Miller react to these emails? “Sometimes, he’ll get into the conversation. And sometimes he’ll say, ‘Yeah, I think we better get on a call.'”.
One big question for Waterford, especially given the fact that his Handmaid is pregnant and now safely under his roof: Does he actually want a child? Fiennes didn’t hesitate to answer: “Yes. I think he absolutely, above everything, above it even not being his own child, I think it means so much to him.”
IndieWire then asked if Waterford actually cared if the child would be his biologically? “I think he’s deeply hurt. I think he has a care, I think t will be repercussions.”