Did you realise it was her? The warm and comforting voice of Oprah as the voice of freedom on Canadian radio. It was perfect, if unexpected casting that thrilled us to bits when we realised who it was.
Episode 11 of the second season of The Handmaid's Tale has June/Offred sitting in a car where she hears a radio signal coming from up North. The radio announcer, played by Oprah Winfrey, gives us an ever so slight update on what's happening in the world - it turns out that there's significant global condemnation of Gilead/America from other countries.
How did this cameo come about? It turns out that Oprah is just like all of us - a fan of The Handmaid's Tale.
“We’d heard Oprah was a fan of the show, and had a story idea, and thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful if… So we asked and she said yes, and it was a lovely, easy process,” showrunner Bruce Miller revealed. “The radio segment she recorded was inspired by the free radio of the Allies from World War II. It was an absolute honour to have Oprah featured on the show, and especially thrilling as she was the one who presented us with the Emmy last year.”
Also, like us, it seems that even Oprah Winfrey wasn't able to keep her cool when she met the star of the show. Elisabeth Moss ... WITH OPRAH!
"She was in the dressing room next to me. She kept popping back into the room to ask questions about the show, or to make comments, or ask what was coming up for a specific character. Then she'd leave and I'd close the door have a quiet freak-out moment, just screaming silently that Oprah Winfrey even knew what the show was. And then she'd pop back up with more questions [laughs]"
There's something very reassuring knowing that Oprah is still out there, safely far away from Gilead - even if the show's producers are keeping quiet on whether Oprah was just playing a radio announcer, or if she was playing herself far off in the Great White North blasting Bruce Springstein songs.
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Of course, this isn't the only appearance Oprah has filmed on a TV show. The Queen of all media is very much also the Queen of the Cameo. Among the more memorable was that time she appeared on 30 Rock, comforting a delirious Liz Lemon:
But, her most important appearance was, unquestionably, on Sesame Street.
The Handmaid's Tale airs every Thursday night on SBS at 8:30pm, with new episodes streaming at SBS On Demand from 5pm.
You can watch the most recent episode of The Handmaid's Tale series, featuring Oprah, at SBS On Demand:
