"Aunt Lydia" Actress says the U.S. is Headed Toward Gilead

"We're a heck of a lot closer than we were in season one, which is terrible," (Actress) Dowd said. The cast and crew filmed the first season during the 2016 US presidential election. "It was scary in season one, and it got more and more serious as we were shooting the pilot that 'this is happening.'"

As an example, Dowd (who plays Aunt Lydia) pointed to a series of laws restricting abortion that state legislatures have passed in recent weeks. "When I saw what was going on in Georgia, I thought, 'This can't be real,'" she said. "It stunned me." (From CNN Business story)