Taste Test
What is “good taste” anyway? Allow your favorite actor, musician, celebrity, or comedian to let you in on what they’re watching, reading, and consuming.
This interview contains spoilers for season 5 of You.
We’re not even five minutes into our conversation and Madeline Brewer is talking about death. “The through line for a lot of the projects I work on is, How am I gonna die?” she says, calling in from Los Angeles, where she’s running between press events for her upcoming projects, which also happen to be the final seasons of two popular shows: The Handmaid’s Tale and You.
On Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Brewer plays Janine, a handmaid who was introduced in season 1 alongside June (Elisabeth Moss), and who has since become a fan-favorite. As more characters break free of Gilead, Janine remains entrapped, and the start of season six reveals that while she is alive, she’s now working at the brothel, Jezebel’s, and her fate remains unclear. Meanwhile, in the final season of Netflix’s You, Brewer’s character Brontë is a fresh face, though the reason she’s there becomes quite clear from the moment Joe (Penn Badgley) lays eyes on her: She’s the new “you.”
Brewer knows viewers will be emotional to watch both shows come to an end, but the actress is ready for a new chapter. She’s getting married, taking a class at the New School (“It’s going to take me a full decade to get a degree but I don’t care”), and spending plenty of time on TikTok just like the rest of us. As for what’s next in her career? “Maybe I just need a nice Netflix Christmas movie,” she says. “I’ve seen every single one of those.”
How did it feel going into two final seasons of some very popular shows? One, which you’ve been a part of the whole way, and the other which you’re just now joining?
The Handmaid’s Tale was much more, “I’m finally seeing this thing through to the finish line.” I was so curious about where Janine ended up. For some actors on the show, it was tough to let go, but I didn’t feel that. I do feel like my circle with Janine is complete. I’ve given her everything I can, and she’s given me everything she’s supposed to give me, and we’re finished.
What was it like to be the final girl on You?
I’ve loved You since it first aired and I was truly honored to be trusted with the final season, but I didn’t acknowledge it until the finale. Our director, Lee Tolan Craiger, asked if I had seen this film called Revenge by Coralie Fargeat. It’s her first feature and it’s this iconic final girl story about revenge. I was just trying not to count the chickens before they hatch. I didn’t want to play the role like a hero, because it’s a very practical survival thing. I tried to imbue her with the knowledge of inter-partner violence and domestic violence, and how common that is. Yes, it’s turned up to 11 in this finale and this show in general, but this is a lived experience in one way or another for so many people, and specifically, so many women who are in intimate relationships with men. We tried not to lose that. There were periods of shooting where I think both Penn and I, our bodies were like, Oh no.
How do you sit in that world? And then also find lightness and joy in these projects that are kind of dark?
There is a scene in The Handmaid’s Tale this season, that of every season of that show I’ve done, this was the most like… it makes me want to cry just thinking about it. It was so traumatizing. I was so grateful that during that period, my fiancé happened to be in Toronto, so I went home and just held him. Human connection helps. But I do go home and I take a very hot bath, and try to remember that that’s not real life.
Was there anything you did to say bye to Janine?
I had enough time between seasons to prepare myself for the goodbye. But Janine doesn’t end with much fanfare; she ends in a quietly beautiful way, to the point where you can kind of just imagine what her life might be like. It’s such a cyclical thing, starting the show in 2016 and finishing the show in early 2025. I’m ready to leave this world and take everything it’s taught me.
Moving to the taste test portion of our interview, where do you get your best cultural recommendation from?
I’m on TikTok a lot. I love Mandy Lee, she’s into freaky shoes. I’m having a weird shoe phase and don’t want to do any research myself. I feel like I never developed a personal style since I’ve been an actor, truly, my whole life. I’m like, Tell me who to be, and I’ll be it. So only in recent years have I started developing a personal style, and the more I develop it, the more I’m like, You’re a freaky girl. I like maximalist looks. I like Tefi Pessoa. If Tefi is doing it, I’m probably doing it. I get skincare recommendations from @neoitgirl. I find what to watch from word of mouth with my friends. Movies come from my fiancé because he knows every movie.
What was your last purchase?
My most recent purchase is direct from @oldloserinbrooklyn. It’s these shoes from Foundry Mews, these lace-up ballerina sneakers. They’re at my apartment in New York right now because I ordered them while I’ve been in L.A. I cannot wait to go home and put them on.
If you could invite five celebrities, dead or alive, over for a dinner party, who would you invite and why?
Jennifer Coolidge, obviously. Joel Grey. SZA. If I’ve got SZA, I have to go with Keke Palmer. How great of a dinner guest do you think Keke Palmer must be? And Lorraine Hansberry. I read a biography of her years ago that did something to my brain chemistry and I became weirdly obsessed with her. My dad also has this thing; he’s a historian and reads biographies of anybody you can name from history. On occasion, he’ll tell my mom, “I’m in love.” She’s like, “Who is it now? A woman who died 100 years ago?” and I do the same thing. I’m like, “I’m in love with this person that I’ve read about” and for a very long time it was Lorraine Hansberry.
What’s the last meal you cooked for dinner?
The last thing I made was a chicken paillard. It was French and had a lot of butter. I like to bake more than cook.
What is the last book you read that you couldn’t put down?
I feel like I’m talking about this too much lately, but I’m taking a class on Friedrich Nietzsche. I feel so pretentious. I recently read his essay “On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense” and it blew my mind. That was the most recent thing I read.
What about for fun?
I could not put down this book called Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval. It’s a short, little novella and it was extraordinary. It was so visceral. She’s a musician and I didn’t know until after I read the book, and then I listened to her music, and I was like, oh my god, this is her book in music form. I tend to pick books from what I see at the store. I know that I like fiction. My favorite writer is Haruki Murakami.
Did you read any at all to prepare for the role of Brontë?
Well, Brontë likes different books than me. She reads a lot of classics, and she loves romance. I read one of those fairy books. Um, not my vibe. I didn’t dislike it. I loved some of the fantasy elements, but I’m not a romance girl. I am like, “If you’re not gonna just get to it, I’m out. You lost me.”
What’s your comfort show?
The Office and Bob’s Burgers. I know more about The Office than I know about most things.
Is there something that you and your fiancé watch together that you’d be upset if he watched without you?
The Last of Us. But we live thousands of miles apart, so sometimes it’s a little more difficult.
Where are y’all going to live when you get married?
Girl.
Yet to be decided?
I was literally on the phone with him right before now like, “I need to get my visa.” The spousal visas are actually really hard to get, and you can’t get them for a while. We’re both artists, so he’s applying for an artist visa here and I’m going to apply for an artist visa for the U.K. I’d love to do theater in London, but if my work takes me to New York, he’ll come to New York. We’re just gonna go where the work takes us.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
One time, I was on set with Anthony Hopkins and this other actor asked for advice. I would never ask an icon like Anthony Hopkins for acting advice but thank god the other actor I was with asked because it was amazing. He was like, “I always think pull at a scene. Don’t push into the scene.”
What about wedding advice?
I haven’t gotten a ton of wedding advice, but the advice that I would give is “Don’t do it.” [Laughs]. We decided to go with this gorgeous place, but nothing was included. It’s going to be amazing but it is a lot of work. We decided to not get a planner, which feels like a mistake now, but we’re in too deep. It’s very exciting, but two of my little cousins are engaged, and I’m like, “Go to a place that gives you everything included.”
This interview has edited and condensed for clarity.
