Interview: Max Minghella on Nick’s Moral Compass in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

At the start of Hulu’s intense, devastating adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Nick Blaine (Max Minghella) serves as a driver to Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and begins a forbidden relationship with handmaid June (Elisabeth Moss) secretly supported by Waterford’s wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski). As the show has gone on, Nick has only gained more power and left behind some of what initially might have made him good.

Awards Radar had the chance to speak with Minghella about the progression of his character and particularly that impactful, violent moment in season five where Nick commits a truly violent public act:

“There was talk, I think, of Nick having real remorse about that. I can’t remember if it was in the script, or if it was something we talked about. And I pushed back on that pretty hard, actually. I felt like, even though we may not have witnessed some of the stuff that Nick has done to get to this position, I’m very confident it’s not the first time he’s committed a significant act of violence. I think in this unique case, he had absolutely no moral conflict about it. I’ve got a feeling that Nick has had to do things in the past that are very unpleasant and probably much more morally ambiguous. To me, there was probably a release and something cathartic for her about doing something like that without any reservation.”

He also commented on the fact that he’s not American and whether that matters for the show’s message:

“I don’t consider it a uniquely American story. I think it’s interesting that there is such an international cast. You mentioned me and O-T, but obviously, Yvonne is not an American, Joseph Fiennes is a significant part of the show and not an American. I think it’s probably brought something to it to have people from all walks of life involved in telling this story. The writers and the filmmakers are really generous in having us collaborate. This doesn’t feel like something where we don’t have a voice. The whole community is deeply involved in how these characters are shaped.”

Watch the full conversation below.

Seasons one through five of The Handmaid’s Tale are available to stream on Hulu.