Entertainment

Samira Wiley & Elisabeth Moss Real Life Relationship Isn’t Quite Like Moira & June’s

by Mathew Jedeikin
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

The 69th annual Primetime Emmy Awards are Sunday, Sept. 17, and Hulu's series The Handmaid's Tale received a total of 13 Emmy nominations for its debut season. Stars Elisabeth Moss and Samira Wiley each received nominations for their performances in the show, so it's only natural to be curious whether or not Moss and Wiley are friends outside of filming and promoting their hit show. Well, judging by their Instagram accounts the two do seem to be friendly, but they might not be BFFs like their characters June and Moira are on the show.

Although they don't necessarily show up on each other's social media terribly often, that really isn't a sign of the strength of their friendship one way or another, especially considering they are both busy, in-demand actors, who are currently starring in, or have starred in, numerous critically acclaimed shows. In addition to The Handmaid's Tale, Moss also stars in Top of the Lake, the second season of which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. The show is produced by the BBC, and the first season is available to stream in the U.S. on Amazon. And in case you somehow didn't recognize her, Wiley was one of the stars of the Netflix hit series Orange Is the New Black during its first few seasons.

So, needless to say, both Wiley and Moss are undoubtedly busy. Even so, they've both shared a number of cute photos of themselves to Instagram, like the photo below of Moss and Wiley posing with O-T Fagbenle, who play's Moss' husband on The Handmaid's Tale.

Because of their great chemistry on screen, and while promoting the show at events it would stand to reason that Moss and Wiley could be friends IRL, but the social media evidence suggests they're more like on-set buddies. Which is a great thing to have, especially if it's someone's company that you enjoy, and Moss and Wiley do seem to get along in the photos they've shared from on-set.

And there's a good chance fans will see them together at the Emmys. Moss was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series for her work on The Handmaid's Tale, while Wiley was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series. Fellow Handmaid's Tale star Anna Dowd was also nominated in the same category as Wiley. The show itself was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, and it received a handful of additional nominations in a range of categories. On Sunday, Sept. 9, Alexis Bledel won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for her performance as Ofglen, so the show is already winning awards.

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In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Moss and Wiley both spoke on the importance of the show, especially after the 2016 election. "When we first started filming, we just all felt so honored to be part of the project," Wiley told the publication. "And then, with the people running for president we felt like, 'Oh wow, this is even more relevant.' Then after the election, it was like, 'Now we're really there.' We felt that on set."

Being that they're both nominated for Emmys for their work on The Handmaid's Tale, perhaps we'll see Moss and Wiley on the red carpet together before the ceremony. Or, even better, if they both win in their respective categories then maybe we'll get pics of them posing with their awards backstage. If you haven't yet seen The Handmaid's Tale then don't worry, the entire series is currently streaming on Hulu, so you can still check out Moss and Wiley's on-screen friendship.