Elisabeth Moss

From breaking the mould in existential comedy The Square, to starring in two of the most disturbing and gripping TV series of 2017, Elisabeth Moss is having quite a year. She talks about confidence, self-doubt and the embarrassment of sex scenes

“People want to see women and stories that reflect complex female characters”

Elisabeth Moss admits to being more daring in her work than in her personal life. Perhaps that explains why she agreed to star in The Square, a satirical comedy from Swedish director Ruben Östlund (Force Majeure, 2014), as well as signing up for two harrowing roles in Hulu’s TV sci-fi series The Handmaid’s Tale and a second season as the determined detective in Jane Campion’s award-winning Top Of The Lake, set in New Zealand and Australia. In person, Moss exudes a tantalising mixture of her Mad Men (2007-2015) character Peggy Olson’s sweet exuberance and her naturally charming and earnest self.

As it turns out, her choice to do The Square was a winning gamble and it won the coveted Palme d’Or for best film at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Viewers were once again captivated by her performance as Robin Griffin in Season 2 of Top Of The Lake, which has a plot that is as distressing as the first series [the first season revolves around the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant girl, and the second is about the murder of a sex worker]. How does Moss feel about putting herself through the emotional wringer for those storylines, in addition to The Handmaid’s Tale, in which she plays an oppressed woman in Margaret Atwood’s stark, futuristic world? ‘I sometimes wonder why I want these serious and demanding roles,’ she says. ‘What the hell is wrong with me? But the quality of the writing and the opportunity to work with outstanding actors and directors makes it impossible to resist.’