The talented actor, whose casting has been kept under wraps until now, will play the enigmatic Ofglen, a fellow handmaid with a very big secret.

Initially, hers and Offred’s relationship is one of mistrust; when they go out in public, the handmaids are paired off so they can keep an eye on each other. and report back on any undesirable behaviour.

While Bledel’s character initially seems an untrustworthy and pious rule-follower, it’s not long before she develops a complex relationship with Offred – and begins to open her fellow Handmaid’s eyes to the world around them.

It’s a fitting role for Bledel, whose alter-ego Rory was a compulsive reader and a huge fan of feminist literature; however, of all 339 books mentioned by her in the Gilmore Girls (including Dick King Smith’s Babe and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway), Atwood’s novel is not one of them.

Perhaps Bledel’s first role after the A Year In The Life revival is a subconscious effort to rectify that oversight.

Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel confirmed to star in The Handmaid’s Tale