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Joseph Fiennes: My Wife Will Watch ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ If My Character Is Killed Off (Exclusive)

Joseph Fiennes wife
Supporting actor in a drama series nominee Joseph Fiennes and his wife Maria Dolores Dieguez arrive for the 70th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 17, 2018. VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images

Count her out! Joseph Fiennes’ wife, Maria Dieguez, isn’t keen on watching her hubby play the villain in The Handmaid’s Tale.

“When they eventually kill me off, then she’ll watch the show,” Fiennes, 48, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Governor’s Ball following the 2018 Emmy Awards on Monday, September 17. “But she’s not going there until then!”

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Fiennes, who stars in the hit Hulu series as Commander Fred Waterford, also reflected on the second season’s controversial finale in which Elisabeth Moss (June Osborne) stays behind in the dystopia Gilead after helping her daughter escape.

“You know, I have two children, so I understand what it is that would make a parent want to protect their child. I think that’s the overriding factor,” Fiennes, who was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the star-studded ceremony, explained. “A mother who has her daughter, in this case in Gilead, and knows what that daughter is subjected to, will put her life on the line to stop that from happening. So I get it. But she’s been damaged so much in the regime, to back in there and save her own kinda makes sense to me. I know a lot of people are confused, but as a parent, I got it.”

handmaid's tale
THE HANDMAID’S TALE Commander Waterford Jill Greenberg/Hulu

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In The Handmaid’s Tale, Moss’ character, June, was separated from her husband and daughter when a religious group took over the government and established a new country, Gilead, where fertile women like June serve as handmaids to carry children for government leaders and their wives. June is assigned to work for Commander Waterford and his wife, Serena, with whom she has a complicated relationship.

Fiennes’ costar Madeline Brewer, who plays Janine on the show, also spoke with Us about next season. “I just want Janine to kick some ass. I want an action sequence,” she said while walking the golden carpet earlier in the day, later noting that the second season’s finale took her by surprise. “I screamed. I was at our finale event and I grabbed Nina [Kiri], screaming, tears streaming down my face.”

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Brewer previously gave her two cents while attending the BAFTA Tea Party in Beverly Hills on Saturday, September 15, sponsored by Heineken.

“I think this season will rely heavily on resistance and that’s what the show’s about anyway. I’m excited to see how they play it out,” she told Us. “It’s not an eye for an eye in Janine’s world. It’s, like, an eye for a life. No, I’m kidding. I really just want to see her, like, find her power and, like, really own it and help Mayday, help the resistance.”

The Handmaid’s Tale also stars Yvonne Strahovski, Max Minghella, Ann Dowd and Alexis Bledel. Season 3 is set to return in 2019.

With reporting by Taylor Ferber and Antonia Blyth

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