Max Minghella is more intrigued than upset by Nick becoming even more committed to Gilead in the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale — especially because of what it says about indoctrination.
“I don’t think any of us expected to be doing this show for six seasons, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get to play a character again for this long. The privilege of it is, you get to explore so many facets of the character,” Minghella, 39, told TVLine on Tuesday, April 29. “I think that that’s kind of an amazing thing. I’ve really gotten to dig into who Nick is. Nick’s been put through so many different circumstances, and I’ve gotten to experience all of that stuff with him.”
Minghella noted that he doesn’t “have an investment” in Nick “being heroic,” adding, “I have an investment in him being interesting and complex. So, I thought that the season is full of complexity for the character.”
Luckily for Minghella, The Handmaid’s Tale didn’t prioritize making Nick the hero this season — the exact opposite, actually. Tuesday’s episode of the hit Hulu series threw most of Us for a loop when June (Elisabeth Moss) realized that Nick told Commander Wharton (Josh Charles) about her plan to assassinate the commanders, which caused Jezebel’s to shut down while Janine (Madeline Brewer) and the rest of the Jezebels’ lives are now at risk.
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“I’m conscious of the fact that it’s probably gonna be pretty divisive,” Minghella said. “And I was impressed that Hulu stood by the writers, clearly, and supported them making certain creative decisions this season that I recognize may not be popular.”
While discussing the controversial decision, Minghella pointed to Nick’s relationship with his father-in-law, Wharton.
“I feel like [Nick] gets the most indoctrinated this year, primarily because of his relationship to Wharton, and I don’t think he’s ever had a paternal figure before who didn’t have an obvious vulnerability,” he explained. “Basically it’s Waterford, and then Lawrence, and these are both guys who I don’t think make him feel particularly safe.”
Minghella continued: “There’s something about Wharton, who I think is quite a misguided character but gives him a security he hasn’t had before. If you look in the real world, I think a lot of the times when people get caught up in something like fundamentalism, a lot of the times it’s because they lack a strong father figure.”
Coshowrunners Yahlin Chang and Eric Tuchman also broke down why Nick had to betray June ahead of the series finale in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.
“It was time for June to take a very honest and hard look at who Nick is and what their relationship is really about,” Tuchman told Us during the joint interview. “We’ve seen Nick in a pressure cooker situation all season. The walls are really closing in on him. He has two worlds [where he is] one foot in each world — and it was time for him to make a decision.”
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Tuchman confirmed that June will no longer be able “willfully” ignore the other side of Nick.
“We are very aware that people feel deeply connected to Nick and very invested in the June and Nick relationship because there’s so much chemistry between them. He has done wonderful things for June over the course of the series. He’s saved her many times,” Tuchman acknowledged. “But that’s only part of his day. The other vast majority of his time is spent as a Gilead commander. And he rose from a driver to commander — so he must have been doing something to contribute to that ascent.”
Chang, meanwhile, explained how The Handmaid’s Tale intentionally left “a lot” offscreen when it came to Nick’s devotion to Gilead.
“June hasn’t seen it. But for the last five seasons, he has made the choice to stay in Gilead and to climb the ranks of Gilead,” she continued. “We felt like, [as] storytellers, we would be dishonest if we didn’t incorporate those choices that he’s already made into showing what he is like and what his character’s really like.”
New episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale are released Tuesdays on Hulu.
