Yvonne Strahovski

Congratulations on the latest releases of The Tomorrow War and The Handmaid’s Tale.

In The Tomorrow War, we see the world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrives from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: “Thirty years in the future mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species.” The Tomorrow War is also focused on another subject that has fascinated the writers and readers alike since Enrique Gaspar’s “El Anacronópete”, 1887 and  HG Wells’ “The Time Machine”, 1895 – time travel. Your character plays a prominent role when it comes to science in the future, do you think your character was also related to the discovery of time travel?

Possibly, though she does specify around the time that the character gets introduced that she has a PhD in Biotechnology with an emphasis in genomics and immunology. So, maybe!

The movie also touches on the Butterfly Effect of time travel with directly relates to your character.

Are you as fascinated by Science Fiction when it’s getting so realistic and probable, at least through the eyes of the films these days?

I am fascinated and amazed by it, but more so through the likes of articles. I recently went down an A.I. rabbit hole and was amazed (and slightly concerned) to learn about just how much technology is out there on it – often not really in our control. Once you give A.I. the power to think by itself, it does. And humans don’t necessarily know what these super computers are doing. 

When I’m watching movies I’m more interested in the alien aspect of it. The Tomorrow War is 100% percent a movie I would choose to watch – and I don’t get to watch too many. 

Your other release is a Season 4 tv series adaptation of the novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale – the story of life in the dystopian Republic of Gilead. Your character Serena Joy / Mrs. Waterford is a major character, finds herself captured in Canada. Where would we see her progress towards the finale?

This season Serena is doing everything she can to get out of detention in Canada and out into the real Canadian world with her baby. She uses anyone she can to her advantage, especially Fred & Mark Tuello. She is as manipulative as ever but with a new flare for freedom – whether she is conscious about  it or not. 

Do you think there is a chance for her to switch sides from Gilead to the US/Canada?

I don’t think she wants to go back to Gilead. Pretty sure she would be hung for her crimes of selling herself and Fred out to the Canadian government. Or they would make her a handmaid. Now that she is, in fact, a fertile woman with child. 

Are you excited that the show is green-lit for Season 5?

I am excited to see where Serena’s story goes, especially if it is a whole new world in Canada. I can see her becoming a political figure with a following there and picking up where she left off pre-Gilead and writing books about her points of view. 

You are versatile as an actor transforming easily between protagonist and antagonist characters while keeping the audience thrilled by your ability to find reasons to like your characters nonetheless. What is your acting secret?

That is very kind, thank you! I just really, really, REALLY enjoy doing a deep dive into the complexities of the human psyche and the grey area that a lot of human behavior plays out in. I am fascinated by the many shades of emotions we have as humans and how they propel us forward, along with our deep intuitive knowledge. 

Playing characters on both sides of the spectrum brought you an Emmy Nomination for The Handmaid’s Tale, an AACTA Award for Best Actress in Stateless (ABC/Netflix) among other Awards and Nominations. How do you choose your projects especially when it comes to tv series when you have to be vested in your character for a number of years?

I look at the character I am going to play – how different it is from anything I have done before, how I can deep dive with the character in ways I perhaps have not as an actress before, and what does the character represent on a more global level.  I also look at the writing and who will be involved in the making of the project as well as the overriding themes in the project and what it might be saying about human society and the world we live in. 

While your latest projects are all dystopian, you are a proponent of protecting the environment.

Do you think we as a society over-consume especially at the expense of public welfare and environmental protection? What do you think needs to be implemented in order to protect the environment and not end up in actual dystopian reality?

We definitely over consume. I think the bigger and more urgent problem though is that we lack the protections for our earth that we actually need to survive as a human species ourselves. 

I find it unreal that a) that fact is lost on a lot of people and b) leaders have not prioritized heavy protections for our oceans and rainforests and focused on re adjusting our agriculture industries to actually be more sustainable and planet friendly. There is so much hope out there and many people coming up with real and livable solutions but yet the implementation of these seems to be at a snail’s pace. We are running out of time & biodiversity. If we lose our biodiversity and the habitats they live in (ocean/rainforest) we lose us. 

As we all faced a difficult pandemic, how did you stay motivated and keep in touch with your friends and family?

I am away a lot for work, often in different cities or countries away from my dearest. So I’m well attuned to using facetime to keep in touch with family and besties. That part didn’t feel that much different. 

But to combat the void that needed to be filled with seeing my nearest and dearest in person, my husband and son and I organized various distanced camping trips outdoor in nature. We could be distanced, spaced out as we sat around a campfire, and everyone would just bring their own food. Those are some of my best memories. 

You love to explore natural environments and national parks. Can you tell us the most memorable places you visited?

Zion, horseshoe bend, Lake Powell, Yosemite, Yellowstone, basically anything in Utah & Arizona, Joshua Tree – the list goes on. My list is even longer for where I’m yet to go! 

If you had a chance to give your younger self a piece of advice, what it would be?

Relax honey, it’s going to be ok.