Bradley Whitford Returning to ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ as a Series Regular
In the terrible world of Gilead, the one Commander who seemed to be somewhat decent will see another day! Bradley Whitford, who played Commander Joseph Lawrence during season 2, will be returning to the Emmy Award-winning drama as a series regular for the upcoming third season. According to Deadline, the West Wing alum has signed a one-year deal with the Hulu series.
As a Commander in the Gilead regime, Joseph is responsible for the establishment of Gilead’s economy and the ruthless Colonies. However, after Emily (Alexis Bledel) was introduced to his home as a handmaid it became evident that he was unlike any of the Commanders we had met. He doesn’t make Emily participate in the ceremony, offers her beer, and speaks quite candidly with her. After she attacks Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), Commander Lawrence helps orchestrate her escape from Gilead. Of course, June (Elisabeth Moss) chose to stay behind and it looks like in season three there won’t be any new alliance as “his combative relationship with June and tenuous allegiance to the regime spur a chain of events felt throughout Gilead.”
[row] “I think we’re going to learn a ton about him. He’s our Oppenheimer character — the man who designed an atomic bomb and then saw what it could do. He’s the designer of Gilead, and now he’s seen what it can do. So he is a mass of contradiction and dangers… now that June has crossed paths with him, she’s going to cross paths with him a lot more in Season 3,” creator Bruce Miller told press in a conference call. [/row]
Whitford will also be joining Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, and Karen Gillian in the upcoming Call of the Wild film based on Jack London’s famous novel. His role is currently under wraps. Most recently, Whitford appeared in The Post alongside Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep as well as 2018’s sci-fi thriller The Darkest Minds. He also appeared on Amazon’s original series Transparent for which he won the 2015 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Star in a Comedy Series. His most notable role was that of deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman on NBC’s The West Wing for which he also won a Supporting Actor Emmy in 2001.
What are your thoughts on Commander Lawrence having a bigger part in season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale? Are you excited to see him go head to head with June? Let us know!
Having studied Media & Writing at James Madison University, I always knew that I wanted to do some type of creative writing, but being able to write about zombies, Starks, and superheroes on a daily basis for Fan Fest is my actual dream. While I probably shouldn’t be as proud as I am to be so similar to Nick Miller, I do hope to one day write my own “Pepperwood Chronicles’.
