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An Actor From 'Handmaid's Tale' Fought To Get A "Brutal" Scene Removed

Wow! Can you believe it? There was a scene that was too brutal for The Handmaid's Tale!

Well, I guess we should probably try to find out what it was, shouldn't we?

It's been hard for HBO fans.

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Ever since the golden messiah was sacrificed upon the altar of its eighth season, things have been a little tough.

It's alright, mourn as much as you need too.

But it's not all bad!

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There's Euphoria, which has really been taking the world by storm.

If you're into a bunch of weird kids doing weird drugs, you can watch that. Or you can just wait for Westworld, your call.

Or hey...

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There is another show on HBO that is based on a book, is set in an alternate (or possibly future, oooooh) version of earth, and has all sorts of traumatizing scenes just like that other show.

It's 'The Handmaid's Tale'.

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It's a great show that is based off an even better Margaret Atwood book, and it's worth a watch if you have the time.

The show is dark and dystopian.

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And while that may be far off from the fantasy that you're used too, dystopian settings are just as interesting because they show us what our world could be.

And in a lot of ways it's a pretty traumatizing show.

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They don't just go the "Walking naked and having people throw stuff at you route, either".

As for detail I can't really go into it here (this is a family website, after all).

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However, I can tell you that there is something to do with a baby and a lot of near-death experiences.

But there was one scene that we were spared, luckily, because it all honestly sounded pretty darn brutal.

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Yes, even for you, Game Of Thrones, and I know you've been through a whole lot.

One scene involved some pretty brutal sexual assault that was eventually cut from the series.

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That's surprising considering sexual assault is one of the most prevalent things in The Handmaid's Tale.

And we can thank actor Joseph Fiennes for sparing us from this scene.

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All right, all together now, yes you too in the back.

Ready, one... two... three: "thank you actor Joseph Fiennes".

Joseph plays Commander Fred Waterford.

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An esteemed commander in the authoritarian, patriarchal society of Gilead and the head of the household where June get enslaved and turned into Offred.

His character was supposed to be going to D.C. when Joseph's character was supposed to sexually assault his wife, Serena Joy.

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However, Joseph fought hard to get this scene taken out.

He deemed that the whole thing was unnecessary.

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In an interview with The Guardian that his wife's character had gone through such an arc that a rape scene would've (and I'm paraphrasing here) kind of ruined it.

He didn't need to add more misogyny.

Also...

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He commented on how despicable his character was, saying:

"Really, Fred is pathetic. His voicelessness – that, for me, describes the man. There are brutal acts he didn't command to happen, but he didn't stand up.

What do you think?

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Is that a scene you might have wanted to see (for some very well explained reason)? Or are you glad that they cut it out of the final product?

I think I'm with the latter.