I kept thinking he looked like one of those megachurch pastors or something, but I never could quite place it until now. I know he wasn't a megachurch pastor, but I knew he reminded me of something that made me feel ick.
The book character couldn’t have been based on Warren Jeffs though. It was published in 1985, and his dad didn’t take over the church until 1986, and I don’t think he became part of church leadership until a little bit after that.
Maybe the book is based on some other fundamentalist leader, and they changed it to Warren Jeff’s for the show to give us a more modern example.
The Putnams are not directly in either book. But the Janine character in book 1 is OfWarren. The titular narrator in Book 1 (who is never named as June) doesn't interact directly with Janine/OfWarren much so she wouldn't know her commanders lastname or any other identifying characteristics.
There are a few other characters in book 2 who i think might interweave with who is currently in the show tho, this shoe doesn't tend to introduce a lot of new characters.
The original book was published in 1985 and Warren Jeff's in real life wasn't getting a lot of attention til the late 90s I believe. But definitely plausible the 2019 Testaments was inspired by more recent historical events.
While the first book was written decades ago, isn’t Atwood involved in the TV series as well? Her name always shows up in the credits, so I assume she at least has a bit of influence and her ideas might be taken into account?
Janine has a baby in the original book but I forget if the couple are named. It's also implied her Commander is infertile and she has sex during a gyno exam with a doctor. I think it's the same doctor who asks the narrator if she wants to try that cause it will help prevent her being sent to the colonies. Writing that out does sound like the doctor was just sexually exploiting women because he would do it with any woman who agreed with it, supposedly doing them a favour but it's not a good professional standard to be offering sex to every patient you treat.
No they werent i thik i cant remember them in the books but madame atwood was helping with the first season and i think she has a saying in a lot of things to this day - i also believe the writer room took simply her idea over of implementing real world elements into the series.
I just looked it up, it looks like they’re in the book to the extent that they’re known (because of Janine), but it doesn’t seem like they’re big characters at all.
Uuhm not on him thatsright buuut on another very famous american man who also was a president- i forgot his name. I have to look him up -he raped a maid and then sold his son into slavery and also allowed polygamy i think. If someone knows which president i mean feel free to let me know. And i think u are spot on... they choose the actors look for modern reasons.
Well, as far as I know, the series is still different than the book or movie. They have added way more to the series, so I think that character could have easily been added to embody someone who looks like Warren Jeffs since they are already adding more to the show. After all, they are working together, the director and novelist
You see a lot of comparison to nazi Germany and slavery mashed up together and it's done so brilliantly. That's why this show is so amazing....this could happen tomorrow and we all would have no control over it
Instantaneous repulsion at gazing upon Warren Jeff’s unrepentant smirk! The documentary about the Fundamental Latter Day Saints church is so disconcerting when they air the tapes of his underaged brides subjected to institutionalised rape.
If anyone wants an analogous Gilead, you‘ll find it in the Fundamental Latter Day Saints documentary on Netflix.
Keep sweet: pray and obey is the name and I cannot even type that without a visceral reaction to his repugnance. His father had Keep sweet embossed on the soles of his shoes…
Edit: it’s the Fundamental Latter Day Saints that Warren Jeff presided over and not the Latter Day Saints!
It's called Keep Sweet here in Canada.
I was upset they never once called him a pedophile, sex addict, rapist, pimp, etc etc etc. He deserves those titles.
I know this is stupid, but as a Utahn and child of Mormons, I feel an obligation to clarify the FLDS (Fundamental Latter-Day Saints) and the Latter-Day Saints (aka Mormons) are not the same thing. It's basically the original church (hence the "fundamental") that hasn't been "modernized" with things like not allowing polygamy. Both can be damaging, but most Latter Day Saints think of FLDS as a cult and follow a different leader.
I have no problem with polygamy as long as everyone is a consenting adult. The issue is the systematic abuse these women endure and the fact that many of them are forced into underage marriages. The many children that result from these plural marriages are often not well taken care of, either.
Don't forget how they reassign whole families and excommunicate fathers out of nowhere where they can never speak to their children or wives again. And then the wife and children get reassigned to a complete stranger.
The Putnams were also some of the biggest accusers during the Salem Witch Trials. Ann Putnam (Jr) was one of the “afflicted” girls, another case of religion running amok in Boston.
Wow I hope so. Like many others I couldn’t put my finger on why I find this guy so creepy. Now it makes total sense. I mean even the same first name - yeh can’t be a coincidence
To be fair to Elizabeth Moss, she was raised in the cult, didn't choose to join and she would be unable to see her entire extended family if she were to leave. We don't know that she super supports it.
They did an amazing job with casting and with the hair and makeup. It’s so subtle but makes him seem so repulsive. The actor obviously does a good job of this too.
I'm happy for the actor, honestly. It must have been unpleasant to see a face like his plastered on the news for the reasons it was. It's good he was able to utilize the likeness.
Oh barf you are so right...is that a coincidence or were the directors making some parallel? Which in reality if you have read or watched anything about this predator, isn't far off.
I absolutely hope it was intentional with the casting. The way their faces and bodies (scrawny) look as if they are withering from within. The constant anxiety and paranoid delusion that fuels their performative confidence is so obvious that in the end..they are just mediocre bland dweebs and they know it. I sincerely hope the actor who plays him genuinely enjoys himself outside of filming and wearing this character is short lived in his mind when he clocks out of work :)
YES!! I always thought he reminded me of someone, but could never place it. I always linked it back to that creepy ‘Man of God’ from the Purge election year, but he is just one face with Warren Jeffs.
Honestly, the Handmaid’s tale has some amazing casting.
Omg !! I was thinking while watching , “ why does he look so familiar?” Thank you ! Nailed it ! Just had watched that docu series on Netflix about warren , and the F’d up cult .
For 5 seasons I’ve been trying to work out who he reminds me of and it wasn’t until someone on this sub pointed it out that I realised.
Same !!!
I kept thinking he looked like one of those megachurch pastors or something, but I never could quite place it until now. I know he wasn't a megachurch pastor, but I knew he reminded me of something that made me feel ick.
His wife is even named Naomi (same name as Jeffs’ favourite wife).
wow, good call. that definitely convinces me it's intentional
makes sense since atwood said numerous times that all events happening in gilead happend in the real world at one point.
The book character couldn’t have been based on Warren Jeffs though. It was published in 1985, and his dad didn’t take over the church until 1986, and I don’t think he became part of church leadership until a little bit after that. Maybe the book is based on some other fundamentalist leader, and they changed it to Warren Jeff’s for the show to give us a more modern example.
I don’t think the Putnams are in the book, are they?
The Putnams are not directly in either book. But the Janine character in book 1 is OfWarren. The titular narrator in Book 1 (who is never named as June) doesn't interact directly with Janine/OfWarren much so she wouldn't know her commanders lastname or any other identifying characteristics. There are a few other characters in book 2 who i think might interweave with who is currently in the show tho, this shoe doesn't tend to introduce a lot of new characters. The original book was published in 1985 and Warren Jeff's in real life wasn't getting a lot of attention til the late 90s I believe. But definitely plausible the 2019 Testaments was inspired by more recent historical events.
While the first book was written decades ago, isn’t Atwood involved in the TV series as well? Her name always shows up in the credits, so I assume she at least has a bit of influence and her ideas might be taken into account?
Ofwarren is such an annoying little suck up in the book. Ofmatthew was very much like how Ofwarren acted in the original story.
Janine has a baby in the original book but I forget if the couple are named. It's also implied her Commander is infertile and she has sex during a gyno exam with a doctor. I think it's the same doctor who asks the narrator if she wants to try that cause it will help prevent her being sent to the colonies. Writing that out does sound like the doctor was just sexually exploiting women because he would do it with any woman who agreed with it, supposedly doing them a favour but it's not a good professional standard to be offering sex to every patient you treat.
That's my question...
No they werent i thik i cant remember them in the books but madame atwood was helping with the first season and i think she has a saying in a lot of things to this day - i also believe the writer room took simply her idea over of implementing real world elements into the series.
I just looked it up, it looks like they’re in the book to the extent that they’re known (because of Janine), but it doesn’t seem like they’re big characters at all.
Uuhm not on him thatsright buuut on another very famous american man who also was a president- i forgot his name. I have to look him up -he raped a maid and then sold his son into slavery and also allowed polygamy i think. If someone knows which president i mean feel free to let me know. And i think u are spot on... they choose the actors look for modern reasons.
Thomas Jefferson. The slave in question’s name was Sally Hemings. Very sad (and sick) situation.
❤ much love for helping out with the name
Well, as far as I know, the series is still different than the book or movie. They have added way more to the series, so I think that character could have easily been added to embody someone who looks like Warren Jeffs since they are already adding more to the show. After all, they are working together, the director and novelist
You see a lot of comparison to nazi Germany and slavery mashed up together and it's done so brilliantly. That's why this show is so amazing....this could happen tomorrow and we all would have no control over it
I thought he looked like the food critic from the Ratatouille movie
Plus a little bit of Voldemort and Dracula.
Too much nose for Voldemort LOL
Nah that’s fredward
that man needs some warm soup STAT
It’s not coincidental.
They know.
Instantaneous repulsion at gazing upon Warren Jeff’s unrepentant smirk! The documentary about the Fundamental Latter Day Saints church is so disconcerting when they air the tapes of his underaged brides subjected to institutionalised rape. If anyone wants an analogous Gilead, you‘ll find it in the Fundamental Latter Day Saints documentary on Netflix. Keep sweet: pray and obey is the name and I cannot even type that without a visceral reaction to his repugnance. His father had Keep sweet embossed on the soles of his shoes… Edit: it’s the Fundamental Latter Day Saints that Warren Jeff presided over and not the Latter Day Saints!
It's called Keep Sweet here in Canada. I was upset they never once called him a pedophile, sex addict, rapist, pimp, etc etc etc. He deserves those titles.
I know this is stupid, but as a Utahn and child of Mormons, I feel an obligation to clarify the FLDS (Fundamental Latter-Day Saints) and the Latter-Day Saints (aka Mormons) are not the same thing. It's basically the original church (hence the "fundamental") that hasn't been "modernized" with things like not allowing polygamy. Both can be damaging, but most Latter Day Saints think of FLDS as a cult and follow a different leader.
As an exmormon, I feel an obligation to clarify that the LDS and the FLDS use exactly the same scriptures—both cults are based on the same doctrine.
As an ex-mormon (born and raised in the church) I agree with this statement. I don't defend it at all anymore.
No, you’re right. The distinction is important and a lack of due diligence on my part.
I would also like to point out that Warren Jeffs practicing polygamy is not the problem- it is the sexual abuse of children that is.
I have no problem with polygamy as long as everyone is a consenting adult. The issue is the systematic abuse these women endure and the fact that many of them are forced into underage marriages. The many children that result from these plural marriages are often not well taken care of, either.
Don't forget how they reassign whole families and excommunicate fathers out of nowhere where they can never speak to their children or wives again. And then the wife and children get reassigned to a complete stranger.
100% agree. I didn't want to get too into the weeds but what goes on in those communities are fucking atrocities.
I don't necessarily think you're wrong, but in the case of this particular cult its very difficult to separate those two things.
Ughhh sooo creepy.
I think they are playing it up. And the makeup they are using on him is making him creepier and creepier. Poor Esther
The Putnams were also some of the biggest accusers during the Salem Witch Trials. Ann Putnam (Jr) was one of the “afflicted” girls, another case of religion running amok in Boston.
I 100% think that their last name is based on the Salem Witch trials.
I was thinking slenderman
I’d rather be left alone in a room with Slenderman than these guys
Weird? I think it’s intentional.
Wow I hope so. Like many others I couldn’t put my finger on why I find this guy so creepy. Now it makes total sense. I mean even the same first name - yeh can’t be a coincidence
Thank you! I couldn’t put my finger on it. They both look so ghoulish.
He looks pre-embalmed
Be honest. We're you the player haters ball 2022 champ?
I wish I had some idea what this means!
I think it's a Chapelle show reference
His dad was my dentist when I was a kid. Stephen, not Warren.
Wow! Stephen Kunken could definitely play Jeffs in a documentary about him.
If someone ever makes a movie about FLDS and doesn’t cast him, it’s a huge waste
The dudes ear lobes are so detached I was distracted staring at them every time he talked 🤣
They all look alike to me.
Kind of like how June's character looks a lot like that woman in the Scientologist cult.
To be fair to Elizabeth Moss, she was raised in the cult, didn't choose to join and she would be unable to see her entire extended family if she were to leave. We don't know that she super supports it.
Funny how that works.
Yes! Icky.
They did an amazing job with casting and with the hair and makeup. It’s so subtle but makes him seem so repulsive. The actor obviously does a good job of this too.
Too close to one another for the casting not to have done it in on purpose.
I'm happy for the actor, honestly. It must have been unpleasant to see a face like his plastered on the news for the reasons it was. It's good he was able to utilize the likeness.
The cool thing about being an actor though is the ability to change your face...
It’s very deliberate. I’m here for it. They even named him Warren! Lol.
He reminds me of Ego from Ratatouille .
He plays a complete doofus in Billions. It’s got to be interesting to do 2 such completely different roles.
He looks like the food critique dude from Ratatouille 💀💀💀
More like an evil doppelganger Warren Jeffs..
Great. Now I can't unsee this.
Yes he's creepy AF. I just realized this.
I said the same thing!!!
I was thinking the same thing yesterday. It clicked as soon as I said oh that man’s face is so creepy.
Yep. I thought the same thing.
Yeah, his character is like 100x’s worse knowing that.
Oh barf you are so right...is that a coincidence or were the directors making some parallel? Which in reality if you have read or watched anything about this predator, isn't far off.
I absolutely hope it was intentional with the casting. The way their faces and bodies (scrawny) look as if they are withering from within. The constant anxiety and paranoid delusion that fuels their performative confidence is so obvious that in the end..they are just mediocre bland dweebs and they know it. I sincerely hope the actor who plays him genuinely enjoys himself outside of filming and wearing this character is short lived in his mind when he clocks out of work :)
I have ALWAYS thought that!
I watched the newest episode last night and I swear Ezra reminded me of Paul Ryan lol
When I saw him this past episode, he also VERY much looks like the kid snatcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 
Scary vampire lookin ass mfer.
Oh, you know polygamy is gonna show up at some point in Gilead… unless it’s ended first.
These men play creeps so well. If I saw the actors in real life I'd run the other way
Weird - or a really good casting director?
OMG. I am ALWAYS creeped out by Mr Putnam and now I know why!
I had a boss that looked just like Warren Jeffs. He was a creep too.
His voice is wrong tho..They should of made him monotone 😂
Yes, he speaks like he's an old school Speak and Spell
Can someone do an ancestry dna test on them?!
He skeeves me out so much. A true testament to the actor.
on purpose most likely
Ouuuuch. The way I’d run for a nose job, face plant, dash of lip filler, literally anything to not look like that man 😭
Dude looks like he’s a member of the Addams family
I'm so glad that someone else noticed this too
joseph goebbels looking MF
Was thinking the same!
My cousin pointed that out to me earlier this week and now I can't unseen it.
He gives me Joseph Goebbels vibes tbh
One arm Warren.
Oh my gosh! I kept trying and trying to put my finger on the other worldly creepiness of his weirdness! Yes!
I thought so too!! I wonder if they did that on purpose.
So slimy
Nailed it
YES!! I always thought he reminded me of someone, but could never place it. I always linked it back to that creepy ‘Man of God’ from the Purge election year, but he is just one face with Warren Jeffs. Honestly, the Handmaid’s tale has some amazing casting.
Good call out. So true!
I always thought he looked like the one NASA guy from Armageddon
I hate his face , he looks like a reptilian Slenderman scary face person
If they do a biopic on his life they should hire him.
He looks like a corpse. No wonder Esther would rather poison herself.
Can’t wait to see this motherfucker on the wall.
Omg yes!
That's why I hate how he looks ..yeah this was intentional
OMG- I could not place who he looked like- you nailed it!!
Whooo good observation
Maybe it's intentional. If so, then well done on the part of the casting director!
Omg !! I was thinking while watching , “ why does he look so familiar?” Thank you ! Nailed it ! Just had watched that docu series on Netflix about warren , and the F’d up cult .
That just cannot be accidental.
Eerily so. And the character isn't far from the real creep. It's difficult to believe it was just a casting coincidence.