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Yvonne Strahovski and Zachary Levi both have new projects coming to television…sort of. They’ve each booked supporting roles on shows based on Margaret Atwood novels coming to Hulu and Netflix respectively.
Per a press release from Hulu, Yvonne has joined the streaming service’s 10-episode adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale in the role of Serena Joy, wife of Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes). Serena Joy is the head of the household staff and an influential public figure who fought for traditional values and the establishment of the Republic of Gilead, a utopian-styled dystopia where Handmaids are the few women who can procreate.
Based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale stars Elisabeth Moss as Offred, a Handmaid in the Commander’s household and one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world. Yvonne’s character, Serena Joy, is a Martha, a member of the Housekeeper caste who see themselves as superior to the Handmaids. If you’ve never read the novel, I highly recommend it.
The Handmaid’s Tale begins filming in Toronto this fall for release in 2017.
Zac will also be spending the autumn in Canada filming the new Netflix series Alias Grace, also based on a novel by Margaret Atwood. (I haven’t read this one, but I’ve added it to my list.) This six-episode adaptation centers around the true story and controversial conviction of Grace Marks (played by Sarah Gadon), an Irish immigrant who becomes a Canadian domestic servant and is later sentenced to prison for the murders of her employer and his housekeeper in 1843.
Details on Zac’s role are being kept under wraps, but a little deductive reasoning leads me to believe he’ll be playing either Jack McDermott, the stablehand who helped Grace commit the murders, or Simon Jordan, the fictional doctor Atwood created to investigate the mystery.
Alias Grace is currently filming in Ontario, Canada, for an expected 2017 release.
What are the odds that both Yvonne and Zac would be in Canada filming mini-series based on Margaret Atwood novels for rival streaming services at the same time? Go figure.
