‘Teacup’ Introduces Yvonne Strahovski to a New Blend of Horror
Seven years after first bringing Serena Joy Waterford to life in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” actress Yvonne Strahovski is getting ready to say goodbye.
“It feels really loaded to be at the end of it all. I know I’m going to be really emotional about it, especially towards the end, saying goodbye to the character,” says the actress, who’s currently in Toronto filming the sixth and final season of the series. “[I’ve] spent so much time with this fictional character and investing so much blood, sweat, and tears and energy into Serena,” she adds. “It’s kind of like breaking up with a friend, in a way. You have to grieve it and clear out that energy and welcome some new energy into your life.”
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Fans will get to experience some of that new energy this fall with the release of “Teacup,” a horror series launching on Peacock. Strahovski leads the show, which she also executive-produced, as a young mother living in the rural South with her husband and two young children. When a mysterious sci-fi force arrives, and literal lines are drawn on the ground, the family along with a small group of neighbors are left to navigate their survival.
“You have this horror that ticks all boxes in the traditional horror aspect of having the thrill and the suspense — but the surprises I think are the depth of the dynamics and the character and the relationships, and specifically the emotional depths that the show goes to,” Strahovski says.
Although firmly rooted in the horror genre, Strahovski found herself drawn first to the underlying family drama playing out onscreen at the same time. She praises the series’ “strong backbone” of a domestic story line, which introduces conflict in the form of infidelity.
“The whole entry into Maggie and James’ relationship — the character that I play with Scott Speedman as husband and wife — I really liked that we were at odds immediately straight off the bat,” she says. “I also loved the journey of Maggie, and how she starts off being an ordinary person in the way that she loves her family; she wants to protect her kids like any mom would. And we go on this crazy journey with her where she has to make these insane decisions and do the unthinkable in the end.”
The project was inspired by Robert R. McCammon’s 1988 genre novel “Stinger,” but the plot has been heavily modified by showrunner Ian McCulloch to become more intimate and “minimalist.” “This is probably the first time I didn’t look toward the original material — normally I would,” says Strahovski.
In late August, Strahovski announced her next project, a series adaptation of the book “A Woman of Intelligence,” set in the 1950s, which she’ll executive-produce. Strahovski will star in the lead role as Katharina, a young mother in New York who’s recruited to become an informant.
“I’m super excited to be at the beginning stages of the project now,” she says. “I’ve spent two decades telling stories and creating characters from one point of view, that being the character. And I would really love to expand my horizons and start peeling it back to the concept — where the concept originates, and how to tell a story from a wider lens.”
This past summer, Strahovski made her directorial debut with the short film “Vlog,” which she wrote while pregnant with her third child. The film was a way to reconnect with the beginning of her career two decades ago when she was fresh out of drama school in Australia and started a theater company with one of her friends.
“We produced and made shows together and created our own stuff. And I hadn’t done anything that was mine, truly mine from conception, for all these years,” she says. “I think during the pandemic, I had a sort of epiphany of being really inspired by those around me, especially the movement in Hollywood to really start honoring female stories and female directors and female cinematographers,” she continues. “I was reminded of what I used to do back in the day, and I thought, well, I want to create something.”
After writing the script, she texted the DP who worked on the first few seasons of “Handmaid’s,” who had offered to help if Strahovski ever wanted to make her own project. A few weeks later, they were on-set, and she turned again to the “Handmaid’s” team who helped her with post-production. The short, which stars Strahovski as a mommy vlogger, premiered during the Palm Springs Film Festival this past summer.
“I think the biggest thing — and for artists I think it’s the hardest thing — is to share your own personal idea and stand behind it, and I think that was the leap of faith,” says Strahovski. “I just kind of threw it out there, even though it was a scary thing to do,” she adds. “And I’m really glad I did.”
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