EPISODE LINK: ANN DOWD
TRANSCRIPT:
Colleen: Welcome, everyone. We are absolutely thrilled to have Ann Dowd on the show.
Welcome.
Ann Dowd: Thank you so much. A pleasure to be here.
Colleen: Well, today’s the day that the Testaments is now
out and about, and how thrilling it is to be able to see you in this character.
What has this premiere been like for you?
Ann Dowd: Oh, it’s been amazing. It’s been busy.
Lots and lots of press. More than I remember for Handmaids. I think Disney doesn’t leave any stone unturned. No offense whatsoever. They’re very thorough. But we first went to Paris and then London and now New York for a moment, L.A.,
then Toronto. So we are going to several press junkets and we’re kind of in the middle of it now, actually.
Colleen: Well, you know, The Testaments is obviously a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale,
which Bridgett and I are huge fans of. And what was it like? I guess my first question is,
this is kind of more of a coming of age where it’s the younger girls who are now in your academy getting ready to marry. How was it like filming with the younger generation that’s coming up?
Ann Dowd: Well, first, I’ll begin by saying I love every member of my cast from Handmaid’s Tale, and I miss them deeply. I just want to make sure that’s really clear, my love for them. And working with these young women has been absolutely a joy. They are completely prepared. Very respectful.
They know how to listen when they’re acting. They’ve done their research. When they’re together, they’re having the time of their lives. And they go from young women to teenagers,
giggling, telling stories, laughing. And then when it’s time to work, they go right to it. Really,
it’s been an incredible pleasure.
Bridgett: Well, playing somebody like Aunt Lydia.
She is such a complex character. You know, when you start watching The Handmaid’s Tale,
you’re terrified. But then you see other parts of her that just come through that have compassion.
How is it to do something like that? Is it because she is such a rule follower that she has such conflict there?
Ann Dowd: Yeah, but such a good question. You know, her love of the girls is what is core for her. It doesn’t always look like that, I understand, in the beginning. People would say,
you call that “love,” I’ve got something to tell you. But it’s based on her love for the girls.
The way she sees their lives when they come in as handmaids, you know, they’re living with their boyfriends, they have no relationship with God, their language is atrocious. She feels that they need severe change, in order to be ready to be God’s person on this earth.
And so she just does whatever she feels is necessary. Now, the thing that happens when she loves these girls, because love, of course, would be the most powerful thing on earth. I don’t know, thing isn’t the word, but it is the most positive energy on this earth.
And when you love, the walls around you begin to crumble. And the defenses begin to go down.
And your connection to these young women is stronger because of it. And her love of Janine is the example of that, what she’s willing to do to make sure that that girl is safe.
I’ve loved playing her that way. I’ve loved what the writers have done.
Colleen: I guess more empathy a little bit and then you go into this training in the academy.
How did you incorporate that final episode of Handmaid’s Tale into the way you act and portray her now?
Ann Dowd: That’s another good question. Well I think the way we find her at the end of Handmaid’s Tale is in a deep state of remorse. She’s on her knees begging for forgiveness.
Her life has crashed, and she doesn’t push back on June Osborne. She accepts what June is telling her, and that that is the life she has participated in, not the one she thought she was, but here are the facts. You allowed girls to be raped time after time after time.
I think when that happens in a person’s life, it doesn’t happen to all of us, when who you thought you were is not who you are. You can either fight back, You can walk away or you can make the very difficult decision to allow change to occur. And I think that’s what happens with her.
She sits with the shame, the humiliation, the guilt. She says her prayers incessantly.
She works on changing who she is. And then she finally, when that shame and the humiliation has begun to drop away from her, she asks herself, what do I want to do in my life?
How do I want to contribute? In my life now that I’m beginning again and she realizes again her love for the girls. She loves them, she believes she has a gift to offer them a way forward in their lives so when we begin The Testaments that change has come into being and she she wants to establish a wonderful academy where these young daughters of high commanders and the Pearl Girls will learn how to be wonderful wives mothers, householders, hostesses.
Now, mind you, this is Gilead. There is no reading and writing for women. The commanders are still running the show. So from the Gilead she knows and believes in,
as far as we can tell right now, Lydia decides to focus on the academy and moving these girls forward, if that makes sense.
Bridgett: Is this five or 15?
I can’t remember how many years after.
Ann Dowd: My understanding, and I could be wrong, my understanding was
that it was about three to four years. So I think that is enough time for a person to settle
who she was and begin again, you know?
Colleen: Yeah. I think it’s really interesting.
When I was doing research, I saw this as actors, the first rule is do not judge.
Ann Dowd: Yes. That’s what allows us to move forward.
Colleen: That’s really hard to do with Aunt Lydia.
Ann Dowd: It’s really hard. Well, I’ve had a little practice.
I’ve been at it for a minute. And so as soon as you let go of judgment of Lydia,
what you want to know is what is she doing and why is she doing it? And so you’ve left out the you’re a horrible creature. That’s not part of the game. That’s not part of what we do. And it is make believe for us. You know what I mean? People used to say, “oh my gosh, do you have a terribly hard
time getting to who she is before you begin to play her?” And in the beginning, I used to kind of be shy about answering. And finally, I realized, why don’t I just tell the truth? “I can’t get to her fast enough.”
She’s a fantastic character. The writers have created someone really, as you said, complex with places to go and things to do and love for the girls and so on and so forth.
Bridgett: I’m curious,
how did you ever reach finding that character? Was there anything that you looked back on that you could pull and say, this is what I’m creating? Because really, I feel like she’s one of the, a really hard character to reach or even pull off the way you pull off, you know,
the way you do.
Ann Dowd: Well, I would I’ved gratefully never have been in a circumstance. of
being treated cruelly in my learning days. But I was educated by Catholic sisters.
I have two aunts who are Catholic sisters. God rest their souls.
And what I could take from that, not the cruelty, didn’t have that, but the work ethic,
meaning you are not special. You have a job to do. Do it to its completion.
And if not, you’re coming right back to finish it. I mean, there were times when I’d be going off to basketball practice down the hallway, happy as a clam, school’s over, and she’d come right away, come to the door with the finger, come with me, Mother Claude, and then we’d walk back to the classroom. By then, I knew what the heck was happening. She said, what do I see here on the floor?
What’s that doing there? What is your job? All right, let me know when you’ve got it done. And that, to me, is very Lydia. We’re strengthening these girls, giving them very good habits to go forward in their lives.
Bridgett: Right. And that probably was someone who really loved her students,
Too.
Ann Dowd: She was wonderful. And you know what’s interesting?
I came to love her. Yeah. By eighth grade, when I left, that woman is someone I loved.
And I was so deeply grateful to her for what she taught me, including algebra. You know what I mean? The other things teaching me how to learn math. It’s a special thing required. Colleen: That’s interesting because do you think the character of Aunt Lydia hopes that her students and girls love her after she’s trained them?
Ann Dowd: Well, I think she doesn’t make it an absoluteness, if that’s such a word.
But I do think she hopes that that would be the case. because that’s how she feels about them.
Now, some more than others. That’s life.
It’s interesting with Janine, if I may talk about her for a moment. I think one of the things that
brought Lydia closer to Janine was the terrible decision to take an eye out.
And I think one of Lydia’s rules is you don’t respond emotionally to a situation.
If you have a girl using the F word several times right in your face when she knows darn well
that’s not acceptable, you take a deep breath. And when you are calm,
you decide what is the appropriate punishment. But Lydia in this case did not.
She responded emotionally, in my opinion, and had the eye removed. And as soon as she realized, this is what you’ve done to this young woman. who will live with this for the rest of her life.
Your job is to make sure she is protected. And I think the love grew over time.
Colleen: Yes, it was definitely a sweet moment whenever you would see the two of them together.
Ann Dowd: Oh, I loved it. I love her, the dear Maddie Brewer. So wonderful.
Bridgett: And just trying to find her at
the end, you know, the intensity of trying to find her was just so important.
Colleen: Well, I was going to say, is there any, you know, is there
any chance there’s some cameos maybe of Janine?
Ann Dowd: well, you know, if that’s happening, they haven’t told me about it. Okay.
Yeah,
maybe there might be, you might have to take a look and see what happens.
Colleen; Exactly. Elizabeth Moss
is executive producer, so she wouldn’t have to walk that far to do it.
Ann Dowd: There you go. She doesn’t
have to ask permission, does she?
Colleen: No. That’s the deal. I’m curious when you started playing Aunt
Lydia, you know, obviously the character was so hard. What was the,
were you shocked by responses of people on the streets that recognized you for the first time and
they were like afraid of you?
Ann Dowd: Well, there would be some of that. I mean, I told this story a
hundred times, so maybe if you’ve heard it, just tell me to wrap it up. But I remember once sitting in an airport. And this is kind of funny when people do this. It happens a few times. People come and sit down at your table, pull the chair out and sit. And right in my mind, I’m thinking, you know, it’s funny, but in life, I would never do that to you. It would never occur to me to sit down at a table unless I’ve introduced myself and so on and so forth. Anyway, one woman came over to me. She didn’t sit, but she pointed right at me and she said, “I know you.” And I thought, uh-huh. I know where this is going, but let’s see where she takes it. We’ll just chill a minute.
Maybe she’ll go away and everything will be fine. Well, she did go away and then jumped to the escalators heading down to where I was going to get on the plane. And she is in front of me.
And she suddenly turns around and she says,” I know who you are.” And then she turned around and ran down the escalator and ran for her life. There wasn’t much time to run on this.
I was afraid she was going to fall off. Right. She just really turned around and went as quickly as she possibly could and then tore out of there. And that just made me laugh on the spot. I said, she better not be watching any more Handmaid’s Tale. It’s a little much here.
Bridgett: I would have trouble recognizing you. Like how you look now, I would not think to see that you are Aunt Lydia right now looking at you. I would be like, oh, I just. I might be like, that’s so funny.
Ann Dowd: Yeah. That’s the idea of dyeing your hair blonde, you know?
Bridgett: Yeah. I mean, so we live in Tennessee
and we’ve seen like Nashville area Wynnona in the grocery. I totally thought she worked at Kroger.
I was thinking, how do I know her?
Ann Dowd: Isn’t that funny? I’ve done it to people,
not recently, but I remember years ago, I said to this young girl, I said, how are you? And she
said, fine. And I said, well, how are you? How’s your family? What’s been going on? As if we were best friends. And then I realized, good God, I don’t even know her. I know her from a show.
And I’ve just made a complete fool of myself. She was kind about it. She was just like, yeah, all right, go back to your friends. Well, you know, we’ll move on. But yeah, it’s funny when that happens. People are kind.
Colleen: I doubt that was the first time it happened to her because I’m sure you get all different kinds of people taking pictures.
Ann Dowd: Yes, exactly. Like on the plane yesterday, I can tell when the sweet
stewardesses are extra kind. The service is lovely, but then they’ll say, “do you want another bowl of nuts?” Which she said to me yesterday. She was so lovely. And I said,
“yeah, I would.” I went up later and they were standing there and she said, I know who you are.
And she had said that when we were at the seat. And so I said, “well, we’ll take a picture”. So we were up there taking a picture and people seem to like that, to have a picture. Oh,
sure. It’s an easy thing to do.
Bridgett: Well, that’s nice of you. It’s nice of you to do that.
Ann Dowd: Yeah. It’s very simple. Thank you.
Colleen: I think, you know, you’ve spoken before about that fact that
you’re. popularity and fame, so to speak, came a little later.
And if you wouldn’t mind telling the story with Elizabeth Perkins, who we had on the show a couple
months ago.
Ann Dowd: Did you? How is she doing?
Colleen: She’s so happy.
She’s living up in Massachusetts and
Bridgett: yeah, doing artwork.
Ann Dowd: My gosh, I would love to know how she’s doing. Thank you so much. We’re not in touch.
We were not close friends at the time. I’m happy to tell the story, but I’m so happy to hear she’s doing well.
Colleen: Yeah, she’s really embracing this time of life and wanted to be more in an environment where she recognized the people at the grocery store and she recognized the mail people and so she moved to a smaller area so she’s loving it.
Ann Dowd: that is really lovely. I’m glad to hear that thank you
for telling me. I was walking off the sub not subway what do you call it in Chicago, I was headed into the restaurant where I worked, wearing a white shirt, a tie and a black jacket. I guess they liked men’s look or whatever. I’m depressed, and I looked over and there was a theater, a movie theater, and there was a premiere happening. And it was About Last Night and it was starring Elizabeth Perkins. And I could not believe that! I was headed in to wait on tables and this young actress is opening her film. I don’t know how I got through the shift. Anyway, I went home. I was sitting on the porch, and it was dark, and I was talking out loud, not yelling, but talking out loud, saying, “what is going on? When is something going to happen? When?” And I heard and felt, and I promise you it’s true, a voice that said,
“you will be all right. You will be 56.”
And I remember saying, “56. I am not waiting till I’m 56. That is crazy.”
Well, hello, Compliance.
I was fortunate enough to be working all along, but that’s what shifted the career, is Compliance.
Colleen: That is such a great story, honestly.
Ann Dowd: I was so lucky. There’s only one other time that happened to
me. I better get some more of them in my life. They’re so good. I remember when I was in acting
school, first year. And I looked across the room and there was a guy standing at the bulletin
board. He was looking at something. And I just sat there and I said, “huh, that’s my husband.”
And then I said, “I don’t love the look.” Because he had a little beard. Because he was playing a role. I said, but that’s who that is. I’d never said a word to him. I’ve been married to him for
For over 40 years.
Bridgett: Wow. Wow. Wow. That is so amazing.
Colleen: You definitely need to listen to that voice whenever
it comes up.
Ann Dowd: I know. I’ve got to start listening more.
Bridgett: Is it the same voice? Is it a different
voice?
Ann Dowd: It was. It was the same kind of deep. I say voice because that’s what it felt like.
But that kind of profound gut truth. Yeah, that was it. Very gentle.
That’s him.
Bridgett: Oh, my goodness. I mean, I want a voice like that. My sister hears one.
Ann Dowd: Don’t you worry, Bridgett. Sometimes we just have to listen.
Bridgett: I don’t get them. Maybe I’m not calm
enough to listen. I need to calm down.
Ann Dowd: No, that’s not true. I’m sure you are. I’m sure you are.
Colleen: So you have the Testaments now coming out.
How, you know, you’re going to do this press tour. What’s next? Like, are you going to start
filming maybe season two?
Ann Dowd: Well, we have to be picked up first, which I will. I mean,
Disney has put everything, Disney, Hulu have put everything into this. I mean, they’ve been
extraordinary. So my thought is, of course, it will be picked up. I’m knocking. And I’m sure that, you know, the writers would love five years. Why not? I mean, there’s stories to tell. That’s for sure.
Colleen: Yeah. Well, you know, I’m just thinking because The
Handmaid’s Tale came out during a time, obviously, that people were scared about what was happening in the world. And now the Testaments is coming out at a time where we’re kind of in a similar situation, almost numb to it. Do you think the response will be similar,
or do you think that there will be a change in people’s response to it?
Ann Dowd: In what sense, hon?
Colleen: Well, I think when Handmaid’s Tale came out, people were just afraid because it was so close to… What’s happening. And now it’s kind of happening again in different ways.
It’s terrible. Do you think people will be afraid of this becoming a reality again?
Ann Dowd: Well, isn’t it? Margaret Atwood is astonishing. You know, she has been called a prophet. She pushes back. (She says)No, no, I got this from history. Nothing that I have put in these novels has been made up.It’s happened somewhere in this world. And coming from Margaret, you know that’s true.
I remember early on in the first season and Trump was elected president. The night before, I remember the election was still going on and I kept saying,
there’s no way he could win. I mean, Hillary Clinton is going to be our next president.
And the next morning I opened the door and there was the New York Times on the floor and it had Trump’s name on it. And I just felt sick. And I went back to bed and I remember texting Lizzie and “I said, what are we going to do?” And she wrote back in Latin, “don’t let the bastards grind you down.”
Bridgett: Right.
Ann Dowd: Which of course comes right out of The Handmaid’s Tale. And it just, I thought to myself, that’s right. You’ve got to take these feelings and put them somewhere. And the honor of being in a show that leaves the living room and goes to the streets is extraordinary. And I think that a show like this will put that into action. A reminder to people to stay alert, stay aware, put your phones down. What you have to say, say it in the streets. Don’t assume someone else is going to do it for you. Speak up.
You know, I certainly was, when we saw young women dressed as handmaids, I just couldn’t believe it in the streets. I was on my bike once and saw two lines of them and they were. perfect. The way they were standing, the way they were walking, they weren’t talking. I thought, oh my God, they’re on a mission.
They’re going somewhere with something to say.
Bridgett: That happened last week in Nashville with the No Kings March.
A group was, walking in downtown Nashville, like that as well with The
Handmaid’s outfits on.
And I read the book, I read The Handmaid’s Tale before the series came out. And I remember when I read it thinking,” oh, this is very,
this is very far off. And I mean, within a matter of no time, it was, it seemed very real.
When watching The Handmaid’s Tale, it reminded me of when I went to the march after the first election.
I went to the women’s march, the first one in Washington. My mother-in-law and I went to
Washington. She was in her 70s. I was in my 40s.
We just were like, we have to go. We have to go. And watching The Handmaid’s Tale and watching the people trying to get out in the street in Boston to go against what’s happening.
And I thought, that feels so real right now. I just know how that feels.
I mean, I didn’t really know exactly, but I know what it’s like to be in that march. I know what
it’s like to be a little nervous that somebody’s going to throw something in the middle of your march or something like that. So it is very close. There were times where I had to
take a little bit of a break because I, yeah, it got me very scared, but it is important.
I mean, Colleen and I both have daughters. I believe you have a daughter.
Ann Dowd: Yes, I do. Yes.
Bridgett: We want good things for our daughters in the future.
Ann Dowd: We do. And we want them to speak up for themselves, which I believe they do.
Colleen: Right. And that’s what
I. was saying, kind of inferring before in that the Testaments kind of starts with these young
women preparing themselves to be wives and changes a little bit as they start to get older and realize, wait a second, I have a voice and I want to use it.
Ann Dowd: Now that you say that, when you see these young, and they’re young girls, all they do is get their period and they’re eligible for
marriage. And that, it just, it begins. And that’s the goal, to be married to a high commander.
I mean, can you imagine? But my sister, if you don’t mind, I’m just going to look.
Where is it? Oh, yes. She said it’s called, this is the name of the article,
I mean, the title, Supporters of Household Voting, Household Capitalized,
Voting Capitalized, Believe U.S. Would Be Better Off Without Women’s Vote. Yeah,
it’s frightening. It is. And then she writes, how about the wife wearing her hairpiece 36 hours a day to remind her not to run her mouth off to her husband?
Bridgett: Oh, my gosh!
Colleen: Yeah, no!
Bridgett: Yeah. With women buying into this?
Colleen: The trad wives and things like that. Trad wives.
They call them trad wives.
Bridgett: Traditional wives. It’s very popular on social media where the women
submit to their husbands in every way. And it’s called trad wives. Like Bridgett said,
traditional wives. Frightening. And very popular. They make a lot of money on their…
Bridgett: it’s like what’s happening?
Ann Dowd: What’s happening is right? How would you be happy living a life
like that no that another any other life is available to you right?
Bridgett: yeah and it’s hard, I mean
because like my mother, she couldn’t get a credit card you know until
the 70s and or get a bank loan or not a bank loan, but even a bank account on her own,
just doing it on her own. And I look at like my mother-in-law being told “ You have to sign that
you’re on birth control if you want to keep your job.” You know, things like that. When she tells me things like that. And I’m like, this is not happening to my child. This is not happening to my or
any other girl or any other female out there. But I just feel that that Handmaid’s
Tale stories like the Testaments and Handmaid’s Tale are so important to put that out there because just like you said, Margaret Atwood said, this is. This is history.
I’m just looking to history.
Ann Dowd: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, it’s so true.
It’s so true. Oh, my God.
Colleen: What did your daughter think of you becoming Aunt Lydia?
Ann Dowd: Oh, well, she’s an actress, you see. So she probably approaches it in a similar way.
No judgment, just like what an interesting, complex person you’re going to get to know very well.
I’ll tell you the truth. When I was starting my career
as a young actress, say, I read The Handmaid’s Tale. And I remembered being curious about Lydia, wondering, hmm, wonder about her. Jump ahead many years. I don’t know how many years, but many. I was riding my bike in North Carolina because I was working there doing a show and I had some time off and I got a call from my agent and manager says “Hi, you have an offer to play Lydia in The Handmaid’s Tale.” I heard the word offer. At the time, I wasn’t used to that being the case.
You know, it’s an ordinary change. And I almost fell off the bike.
Oh, I sat down on the park bench and I read it from start to finish. And I thought,
oh, my God, how fortunate can a person be? Margaret Atwood has changed my life.
And sure enough, that is what happened.
Bridgett: Emmy Award.
Ann Dowd: Oh, my God. I was so, so grateful. Oh,
goodness.
Bridgett: And that was a tough year. That was a tough, I mean, all these nominees,
like they’re all tough years. It’s hard to get it. I mean, what do I know? But all the nominees
were superb that year and well-deserved. Well-deserved.
Ann Dowd: Thank you so much. Thank you. I try to keep it in perspective and say, okay, it’s
about the work, not about the awards, it’s about the work. Because it’s hard when you get into that world, you suddenly find yourself, hmm, I wonder if. And you say, hey, wait a minute now, nice deep breath, sweetheart. Back to the text. Let’s get real here. I mean,
it’s fun to hope, but let’s not let it run the day.
Colleen: That’s a good way to look at it.
It was so nice because you just looked so surprised.
Ann Dowd: I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it. So full
of gratitude. It was just nice. That’s what I felt.
Exactly that. And my husband saying to me, “you have to get up and walk.”
He basically whispered that, oh, “okay, get up and walk”, which I finally did, clearly.
Colleen: Are you finding that roles for women who are over the age of 50 or 60 are more frequent now?
Do you think Hollywood’s changing a little bit?
Ann Dowd: I would say yes, it is. I don’t know specifics,
but yes, I would assume that it is getting more open and more is coming their way, our way, I should say. I was supposed to go to Australia for seven weeks
to film something that I really liked. And at the very last minute, it was an independent film and the funding fell through. So it was canceled. You know, those things happen with independent films.
It just, that’s the way it is.
Bridgett: That’s so hard.
Ann Dowd: Yeah, I know. It’s been a little quiet, but this this press junket is definitely intense because you do interviews all day. Five minutes and then they’re eight minutes. Sometimes you have 15 minutes interviews, but then you go back to five. So you just. talking like the, you know, I don’t know what I’m saying.
Colleen: And it’s kind of the same questions every time.
Ann Dowd: They are similar.
It’s good because you get used to answering it.
Bridgett: But when you have to physically be in a studio too, like when you have to be there, that’s, that’s a lot too, to prepare for that, go in.
Ann Dowd: Yeah, I do everything.
Colleen: you know, you’ve done Broadway, you’ve done plays, you’ve done TV, movies. Is there something you would like to do next or someone you would like to portray? A little comedy, something like that.
Ann Dowd: Oh, you know what? Comedy would be lovely, darling. Do you have something in mind?
Colleen: I’ll write you something. All right.
Ann Dowd: You know, when we did. live in front of a studio audience.
Bridgett: Yes, you were so good.
Ann Dowd: The actors who did sitcom comedies, there were a few in our cast,
they said it’s the best way to earn a living is to do a half-hour comedy.
It’s the best way to have your life because it’s not a 16-hour day. They said that’s the way to
go, do a half-hour comedy. But just the idea of being in a comedy, would I know what to do? I hope so. But it would be fun to try it.
Bridgett: Yeah. Oh, I think you’d be great. Oh, absolutely.
Colleen: Yes. And they would be like, we know her from somewhere. Where do we know her?
Bridgett: When you were, you did Edna Garrett and I remember watching that and you were so good. It did take me a minute to realize it was you. To realize that that’s Ann Dowd.
Oh, my goodness. You know, it takes, I guess I’m a little slow to read. That was, that was fantastic. But I do, we could use a little more comedies. But I’m still going to watch that testaments because what people are saying is,
you know, people, those of us who are familiar with it, because of course it comes out April 8th.
Ann Dowd: It’s easier to watch. It’s easier on the system, on the psyche.
It’s focused on the young women, young girls of Gilead,
privileged girls, commanders, daughters of high commanders, Pearl Girls. It’s not a group of girls you’re familiar with. And they don’t know any other life, these daughters of these commanders.
And the Pearl Girls come of their own will, ultimately.
And so you have a community that is not suffering the opposite,
you know? I mean, part of you is sitting there saying, yeah, “but darling, you’ve never read a book. You don’t know how to write your name.” I mean, can you imagine? You’re not allowed to sing.
What? I can’t even imagine. Well, that’s the thing. And thankfully, well,
a little bit thankfully, but of course they’re friends. You see, they have beautiful friendships
because they’re human. They’re human beings. And so when you have friends and when things happen, the way you respond shifts, you know? So I think in Gilead,
we don’t want them to have friends. We want them to have acquaintances, but not friends, because friendships get dangerous. When two or more of you are together, okay,
a little push, a little, hey, wait a minute, you know. But I would say that it’s easier on the
psyche to watch The Testaments.
Colleen: Well, that’s good. Yeah, it is good. And it still has its message.
Ann Dowd: I mean, not that we’re there to send a message, but it still has its power and its circumstances that are, you know, to begin with what we just said, no writing, no reading.
Colleen: What was it like playing Aunt Lydia when you’re wearing the same outfit and no makeup the same hair like did you ever want to just, I mean when the one episode where they talk about your past and you were a teacher yes that was a nice change but basically many years you were in the same costume.
Ann Dowd: well I’m in the same one in The Testaments just to tell you the truth.
Bridgett: is it easier when you just have the same wardrobe?
Ann Dowd: that’s a funny question
because the joke when I sit down in the makeup chair is, so when are you putting the eyelashes on? Is that going to come later today?
It’s just like a pretend makeup session. They do put foundation on and so on and so forth. But I hear your question. The wonderful thing about the costume is it gets you into the right state of mind. The minute you put it on and you zip up. And I’ve found ways to do it all by myself, which I love. And each step of the way, it’s reminding you, “all angels and guides, please join me in this endeavor.” And the weight of the costume, the weight of the jacket,it puts you in the place you need to be. So I’m very grateful for it. Now, I look in the mirror andI say, “oh, God help us all”. You know, with the hair back and the whole thing, I mean, couldn’t choose a more ineloquent way to look, it’s just that’s who she is that’s what she looks like but I’ve never been hired for my looks do you know what I mean I’ve never thought of myself that way oh we got to get her she’s a stunner I don’t that’s not my history so it could have been worse let’s just say.
Bridgett: you know, like when they go back to when you were the teacher and you got on that outfit and you’re singing. I love that. Yeah, it’s like she was a different person.
But it’s such a complex. It’s so interesting. She is such an interesting character.
Ann Dowd: I’m so glad. Thank you for saying.
Bridgett: Oh, you’re welcome. You’re welcome.
Colleen: You are such a brilliant actress, and we truly appreciate you spending some time with us.
Ann Dowd: Oh, I’ve enjoyed it immensely. Oh, thank you.
Colleen: Absolutely. And we wish you the best of luck with the
Testaments. We know there’ll be a season two, so please come back and tell us. Probably more. Yeah,
exactly.
Ann Dowd: I look forward to it. I look forward to it.
Colleen: But until the next time, thank you so much for
joining us.
Ann Dowd: Thank you for having me. Take care of yourselves. You are so, so lovely.