Inside Elisabeth Moss' offscreen life from 'traumatic' marriage to 'broken spine' injury

Elisabeth Moss is set to don the iconic white bonnet once more for the final chapter of The Handmaid's Tale, with the series making its much-anticipated return on Hulu today (April 8).

The streaming giant is treating viewers to a triple bill, dropping three episodes from the sixth season, before switching to a weekly release schedule for the remaining seven instalments.

While UK audiences will have to hold on a bit longer for the Emmy-lauded drama to hit and Prime Video, the wait promises to be worth it.

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Moss, now 42, first turned heads in Mad Men, then soared to new heights with Top of the Lake, but it's her riveting performance in The Handmaid's Tale that has truly solidified her as a powerhouse of acting.

Her role as June Osborne, navigating the horrors of Margaret Atwood's dystopian , earned Moss top honours for best actress at both the 2017 Emmys and Golden Globes, continuing to garner acclaim for her portrayal of the deeply scarred protagonist, reports .

Yet, Moss' off-screen life has been no less compelling, marked by its own share of drama.

Elisabeth Moss' 'traumatic' marriage

The star met Fred Armisen, actor, comedian, and musician, back in 2008 during an SNL episode hosted by Moss' Mad Men colleague Jon Hamm.

It was there, amidst the SNL ensemble with Armisen as part of the cast and Moss guest-starring in a Mad Men parody, that their paths intertwined.

The couple's whirlwind romance led to an engagement in 2009, which Moss confirmed to People magazine, describing the proposal as "perfect" without delving into the details.

They tied the knot in Long Island City on the anniversary of their first meeting a year before, but Moss and her partner's wedded bliss was fleeting. Moss filed for divorce the next year, citing "irreconcilable differences" just eight months post-vows.

Reflecting on the marriage with the Los Angeles Times in 2014, Moss shared: "It was extremely traumatic and awful and horrible. At the same time, it turned out for the best."

The Invisible Man actress expressed relief that the split occurred while she was young and without children.

Armisen, who departed SNL for Portlandia and other ventures, owned up to his shortcomings in marriage during a 2013 interview with Howard Stern, admitting: "I think I was a terrible husband. I think I'm a terrible boyfriend."

He confessed, "I want it all - fast. I want to be married ... the amount of girls I've lived with right away ... and then somewhere around a year, two years, I get freaked out ... I feel bad for everyone I've gone out with."

Elisabeth Moss' pregnancy and baby news

Moss' journey has taken a joyful turn as she recently announced the birth of her first child in 2024, marking a new chapter of happiness in her life.

She has yet to reveal who the father of her child is, but she's opened up about the joys of motherhood, expressing how "so fortunate" she feels to have had her baby with her on set.

She spoke of the experience as a "beautiful synergy" telling The Hollywood Reporter: "This coming together of art and life that was undoubtedly, incredibly meaningful."

Moss shared further: "I'm really glad that I got to have this last season playing June with a little bit more of a visceral emotional experience of some of the things that June is talking about or fighting for. I'm really happy that I got to have that experience."

The birth of her child added an extra layer of significance to her role in The Handmaid's Tale, which centres around themes of fertility and motherhood.

Elisabeth Moss' broken back injury during filming

In other news, Elisabeth Moss has faced challenges too, disclosing in 2024 how she sustained a broken back while previously filming her latest series The Veil.

The injury occurred during a stunt on the FX espionage thriller, where she portrays a spy navigating a perilous labyrinth of lies across various countries.

Speaking to Variety, Moss recounted the incident that took place while filming a scene for the second episode, involving a rooftop confrontation with an adversary.

She recounted: "The first time we shot it I hit a wall the wrong way, let's just say, and ended up lying on the roof for a couple hours."

Moss revealed: "We actually shot the next day at the airport, those are the Paris airport scenes you see [in the episode], and I actually have, like, a broken back."

She humorously proposed a solution to her injury during filming: "I tried to get them to put a green blanket over me, and just VFX [visual effects] me out. I was like, 'Look, just put the green blanket over me and you can scrub me out in post.'".

Fortunately, Moss has made a full recovery, and it seems the horizon is filled with opportunities for her, as she's involved in a slew of projects including She Will Rise, Last Night at the Lobster, and Imperfect Women.

Fans are also buzzing with speculation that Moss might be seen in The Handmaid's Tale sequel series The Testaments, although this has not yet been officially confirmed.

The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 will be coming to Prime Video on May 3 in the UK and to Channel 4 in 2025