From Newfoundland to Gilead: Jonathan Watton joins The Handmaid's Tale for third season

Newfoundland-born actorJonathan Wattonhas gone from being a fan of The Handmaid's Tale, which starts its new season Sunday, to a cast member.

Watton who has worked in TV, film and theatre for two decades will playCommander Matthew Calhoun during the award-winningshow's third season, which airs on the Crave service in Canada.

He got the role "the old-fashioned way" after auditioning, but Watton said he hadfollowed the Toronto-shot series closely during its first two seasons.

Coming in as a fan required him to disconnect from that before he started filming, he said.

"I've got to go to work now and Isort of have to put the fandom away, for sure," he said, "and then just show and sort of jump into that world."

Return to Gilead

That world is a dark one, as the series tells the story of Gilead, an authoritarian and deeply religious society that emerges after a civil war in the United Statesand a mass societal panic caused by the effects of environmental degradation and disease.

The series parallels Margaret Atwood's book of the same name, which tells the story of a handmaid a class of women in Gilead still able to give birth, and therefore forced into servitude to bear children for the new society's male-dominated elites.

"Women become second-class citizens in all sense of the word, and are subjugated and divided into class systems," Watton explained.

Watton drew comparisons between the show's story and things happening in present-day politics, like the recent passage of laws restricting abortion access in American states including Alabama. American politician Paul Ryan was named by the show's writers as a modern-day comparison to his character, who is both personally ambitious and politically shrewd, he said.

The story, set in the near future, has its parallels in current society, he said and that's part of what has made boththe book and the series so resonant for viewers.

"It is a speculative fiction, it's an imagined world," he said, "but all of the elements that make up this society and make up this world are all things [Atwood] drew from that she's witnessed herself in different societies around the world."

I think what any good show does is reflect aspects of our lives or things we see in our world, and reflects that back to us.- Jonathan Watton

That was important to Atwood, he said, and it continues with the show, which has expanded the story and the resistance that began to form in Gilead beyond Atwood's book.

He thinks those real-life connections, which have led to a resurgence of interest in the book, are part of why the show has resonated with a large audience, including women.

"A lot of my female friends are both challenged and intrigued, and sort of moved and inspired by the show," Watton said. Protesters have dressed in the handmaids' iconic red gowns and white bonnets, for example.

"I think what any good show does is reflect aspects of our lives or things we see in our world, and reflects that back to us."

The Handmaid's Tale airs on Crave and on Bravo, and the new season premieres on June 9.

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