What’s it like to watch your dystopian nightmare come true?
In a word, surreal.Reed Moranocan tell you a little bit about that.
Are we living inThe Handmaids Tale?
No, but it sure does feel like the water might be starting to boil.
As such, Morano has plenty of insight to offer on the technical process of crafting a dystopian nightmare.
Read the full interview below.
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It’sutterly surreal to be talking about this story right now.
REED MORANO: Yeah.
This whole thing is so weird.
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It’s pretty insane.
Obviously,Margaret Atwood’s story’s been around a long timeand you guys filmed this before the election.
So, what has the been like for you, sort of watching bits of it manifest in reality?
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MORANO: It was really surreal because we didn’t know.
I wonder what the signs would say."
And a month later, I would know that.
Image via Hulu
It was very surreal.
It’s intense to watch right now, for sure.
MORANO: [Laughs] I mean, you’ve got the option to’t help it.
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Honestly, I had another call earlier today and it was totally… every question was political.
Canyou talk about how youforged a path into that career?
What would be your advice to young women who want to do the same?
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MORANO: Well, I just didn’t really know when I started.
I didn’t really realize it was a thing.
I didn’t realize, and I guess naively, I didn’t think gender mattered.
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I want to be that guy."
So, I didn’t really think about, “I’m taking a hard path.”
No, you’re thinking you shouldn’t be doing this.
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Don’t think about it.
So, that’s the biggest thing I would say.
It’s not a myth.
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It’s really the best time to be a woman.
And instead, it can be an advantage.
I’ma littleobsessed with the book,The Handmaid’s Tale.
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MORANO: Well, I think she basically was very internal.
For me, the whole story is really internal.
And there are things that are, sort of, visually, that she indicates.
For example, the colors that everyone wears and the graphic nature of that.
That kind of color segregation is really compelling to look at cinematically.
It all was emotionally driven, not driven by style.
You know what I mean?
So, there is sort of a rigidity to the look of Gilead and that the colors you choose.
Are they complimentary colors even though they’re the opposites?
The blue and red.
We ended up going different.
There was a movie that was made aboutThe Handmaid’s Tale.
And I never watched it on purpose because I didn’t want to …
I just didn’t want to know.
Yeah, for sure.
MORANO: And I didn’t.
And not shooting on film, knowing we were shooting on digital.
This particular blue always reminded me of a peacock blue.
So, we were trying to get those two colors, basically.
That was what I suggested to the team.
And then we looking into all different shades with Ane Crabtree, our costume designer.
And there was going to be a lot of shadow and light.
The world is described as being so unsettling.
And there is something unsettling about strictly symmetrical things, to me.
Or one that’s slightly off, because we kind of did both.
But it was like, what do the flashbacks mean, emotionally, to the character.
And I just said, “Well, it’s like their memory, their fleeting memory.
So, how do we visualize the fleeting memory?”
Like, almost a verite kind of impression of the camera.
Well, that’s so cool.
I’m excited to re-watch and pay attention to that.
You want to get to the next episode.
Can you talk about walking that line?
It’s a difficult tonal balance.
MORANO: Well, thanks for saying that because that’s the perfect response.
However, it’s not devoid of satire.
Sort of just like irreverence of certain things.
Not being prim and proper about it.
In your head, you feel like, “What the fuck is this?”
MORANO: So, to have that ability, it really helps.
So, it doesn’t feel heavy-handed because it’s just, it is the story.
That’s how the story’s told.
You know, you never get too comfortable in a moment there.
And I think also, like I said, the sense of humor that Bruce instilled in the writing.
I think it enabled Lizzy to play with that.
Because nobody can see.
Oh, good point.
It’s almost like an assault of sound.
Ideally, that would be our goal.
Because it’s like your morbid curiosity.
You just want to, kind of, see what happens next.
So I would say you guys succeeded.
MORANO: That’s … awesome [laughs].
Is that something that you guys are already in development on?
MORANO: I do think that they have started the writer’s room.
MORANO: So, they’re working on it.
And it’s going forward.
So, it’s definitely coming back.
Do you want to come back for season two?
Are you still working that out?
I mean, I told them that I would love to.
It’s really more of matter of scheduling and stuff where I would come back.
Like, what part of the season I come back in because I’m directing another film in October.
Is that happening for you?
Are you having a Noah Hawley postFargomoment?
What have the last few weeks been like for you?
It’s been a bit crazy.
I just literally wrapped a movie, like three days ago.
MORANO: And we picked up the tail end of it, here in LA.
There’s some cool possibilities, I think, out there.
It’s the craziest thing.
It’s been the craziest time for me, for sure.
I can’t even really believe it’s happening.
I can only imagine.
Do you have an idea of a general direction you’d like to go with your career?
Are you looking to make big blockbuster films or are you taking more on a project by project basis?
MORANO: I’m thinking more on a project by project basis.
I don’t wanna only do one thing.
I don’t want to come in and do something that’s been done before.
you’ve got the option to’t go wrong with that one.
Isthis the one with PeterDinklageand Elle Fanning?
We just wrapped up.
That’s the one that I just wrapped.
I’m about to go into the edit on it.
It’s called,IThink We’re Alone Now.
I think it’s gonna be interesting.
Very different thanHandmaid’s Taleand very different than the next thing I do.
So, very special.
You know, it’s a post-apocalyptic film, basically.
And that’s Elle Fanning.
