The Handmaid’s Tale Promotes Longtime Cast Member Ahead of Final Season

Prepare to see a lot of the new Mrs. Lawrence when The Handmaid’s Tale returns next year.

Ever Carradine, who plays Naomi, has been promoted to series regular for the Hulu drama’s sixth and final season, TVLine has confirmed. Our sister site Deadline first reported the promotion.

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Carradine has been with the show since Season 1, when Naomi was introduced as the wife of Gilead leader Commander Putnam and a friend (of a sort) to Serena Joy Waterford. The character became a widow in Season 5, after Commander Putnam was found guilty of raping Esther outside of The Ceremony (and yes, we know how contradictory that sounds). At the end of the season, she married Commander Lawrence and took Janine — whose daughter she stole in Season 1 — into their home as a handmaid, only to have her removed by the Eyes after Janine told her how much she hated her. (Read a full recap.)

Carradine’s other TV credits include Runaways, The Neighborhood, The Conners, Goliath, Major Crimes, Commander in Chief and Once and Again.

Handmaid’s Tale star and executive producer Elisabeth Moss recently told TVLine exclusively that she will direct four episodes of the show’s upcoming swan song: the first two installments, and the last two.

The final season, she added, is “big and wild, and goes to many different places, and it is very, very surprising all the way through.” Production is scheduled to begin this summer.

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