Why Alexis Bledel's Emily Malek Left The Handmaid's Tale

Alexis Bledel left "The Handmaid's Tale" in 2022 after four seasons as part of the cast of Hulu's hit drama. At the time, the announcement came as a shock because her character, the handmaid-turned-rebel Emily Malek, was a major part of the story, which is a rather bleak tale about women who are subjected to horrific abuse in an authoritarian dystopia known as Gilead. So, what made Bledel walk away from one of the best shows Hulu has released to date?

In case anyone was wondering if she got fired, Bledel revealed in a statement released to Variety that the decision to leave "The Handmaid's Tale" was entirely her own. That said, the actor didn't explain what made her want to walk away from the series. In her own words:

"After much thought, I felt I had to step away from 'The Handmaid's Tale' at this time. I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and crew for their support."

Since then, "Handmaid's Tale" creator Bruce Miller has backed up Bledel's comments. He assured fans that no one forced her to walk away from the series, noting that the actor was going through a "complicated time" in her life when she stepped down. Still, Bledel's exit meant that the show's writers had to come up with a way to explain the lack of Emily in season 5 and beyond, so how did they get around it?

"The Handmaid's Tale" leaves Emily's fate open-ended, but she is still given a somewhat definitive send-off in the event that fans never see her again. The season 5 premiere sees June Osborne seek out her friend, only to learn from Emily's wife, Sylvia (Clea Duvall), that Emily has returned to Gilead to find the villainous Aunt Lydia Clements (Ann Dowd) and continue serving as a freedom fighter. The end.

The conversation between June and Sylvia is full of regret and a reluctance to go after Emily, as they accept that she probably isn't coming back. What's more, the exchange between June and Sylvia reflects how the show's creators felt at the time, as Bruce Miller told The Hollywood Reporter:

"What I tried to do was deal with it in the way we were all feeling at that point. Like, 'Oh my gosh.' So I think that, in some ways, the real emotions wag the dog."

Bledel's exit might not have been the toughest moment in the history of "The Handmaid's Tale," but the show's creators still seem pretty bummed out by it. Still, it's good to know that Emily wasn't killed off, and that she's out there somewhere, fighting for a noble cause.