--- title: Margaret Atwood Doesn’t Hear Complaints That 'The Handmaid’s Tale' Is Unrealistic Anymore | TIME description: Author Margaret Atwood, a TIME 100 honoree, and Actress Elisabeth Moss on The Handmaid's Tale, which has been made into a television series starring Moss. The book, first published in 1985, has become a bestseller in 2017. canonical: https://time.com/video/R3BPK3e3/ og:title: Margaret Atwood Doesn’t Hear Complaints That 'The Handmaid’s Tale' Is Unrealistic Anymore og:description: Author Margaret Atwood, a TIME 100 honoree, and Actress Elisabeth Moss on The Handmaid's Tale, which has been made into a television series starring Moss. The book, first published in 1985, has become a bestseller in 2017. og:url: https://time.com/video/R3BPK3e3/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/R3BPK3e3/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Margaret Atwood Doesn’t Hear Complaints That 'The Handmaid’s Tale' Is Unrealistic Anymore twitter:description: Author Margaret Atwood, a TIME 100 honoree, and Actress Elisabeth Moss on The Handmaid's Tale, which has been made into a television series starring Moss. The book, first published in 1985, has become a bestseller in 2017. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/R3BPK3e3/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Margaret Atwood Doesn’t Hear Complaints That 'The Handmaid’s Tale' Is Unrealistic Anymore > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Margaret Atwood Doesn’t Hear Complaints That 'The Handmaid’s Tale' Is Unrealistic Anymore [Watch (HLS stream): Margaret Atwood Doesn’t Hear Complaints That 'The Handmaid’s Tale' Is Unrealistic Anymore](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/R3BPK3e3.m3u8) (1:23)  _Published 2017-04-20. Author Margaret Atwood, a TIME 100 honoree, and Actress Elisabeth Moss on The Handmaid's Tale, which has been made into a television series starring Moss. The book, first published in 1985, has become a bestseller in 2017._ --- Jul 27, 2023 9:48 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Margaret Atwood on the Sequel to "The Handmaid's Tale"](/video/1tvontko/) ### Margaret Atwood on the Sequel to "The Handmaid's Tale" [Elisabeth Moss Tells Margaret Atwood About Acting in the "The Handmaid's Tale" Without Makeup](/video/NPvh2PrX/) ### Elisabeth Moss Tells Margaret Atwood About Acting in the "The Handmaid's Tale" Without Makeup [Margaret Atwood and Elisabeth Moss Discuss The Handmaid’s Tale](/video/QAJVeTx0/) ### Margaret Atwood and Elisabeth Moss Discuss The Handmaid’s Tale --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Okay, it's what you think ultimately the book is about for you. I think it's about a totalitarian society in America the way it would likely to be. Mm- hm. [ LAUGH ] [ LAUGH ] [ MUSIC ] You told me that everything that happened in Handmaid's Tale had happened. Somewhere. Somewhere, yeah. Somewhere at some time, yep. Yeah. I made nothing up. Mm- hm, and now in our time where our climate is sort of is what it is in America and in the world Do you feel the same about that statement? Or do you feel [ INAUDIBLE ]. Even more so. Even more so. Even more so, absolutely. So when I first published that book at the outset, when people were saying, Margaret, how could you suggest, you know? How could you suggest that we would ever do something like [ INAUDIBLE ]. This would ever happen, right? I don't hear that much anymore either. No. Do you feel like there is one thing that the average woman or average person can do to sort of prevent. Well, they might vote, just to begin with. That would help, wouldn't it? Voting helps. Yeah. 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