Ann Dowd reveals how Elisabeth Moss' encouraging text comforted her after Trump became president

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Ann Dowd has revealed that it was her ‘The Handmaid's Tale’ co-star Elisabeth Moss who supported her in the hours after Donald Trump was elected president for the first time in 2016.

The 70-year-old made the revelation during the Tuesday, June 16, episode of Jesse Tyler Ferguson's ‘Dinner's On Me’ podcast.

Ann Dowd reflects on Trump's victory

When Trump was elected a decade ago, the drama series was still in production, with Dowd starring as the villainous Aunt Lydia opposite Moss' heroine, June.

Now, the veteran actress has reflected on that period, telling the host, “He had just been elected. I remember when we were shooting early on... that night before he was elected, I remember thinking, 'This can't be. This is going in the wrong direction.'”

“I literally went to bed thinking, 'I can't watch another program dedicated to the ballot count,’” she recalled, before adding, “I woke up, opened the door on the New York Times on the floor, announcing his win. So I texted Lizzie Moss and I said, 'What are we going to do? This can't be.’”

Elisabeth Moss sent encouraging message to Ann Dowd

Dowd then disclosed the message she received from the 43-year-old actress.

Moss reportedly told her, “Don't let it grind you down.” However, the message was written in Latin, which later became one of the series' signature lines. “That's what she wrote back,” Dowd added.

‘The Handmaid's Tale’ is based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel of the same name.

The author shared the story behind the phrase “Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum” in 2017. “I’ll tell you the weird thing about it: it was a joke in our Latin classes. So this thing from my childhood is permanently on people’s bodies,” she told Time. 

Ann Dowd contrasts herself with Aunt Lydia

This comes after Dowd spoke about her dark on-screen character, Aunt Lydia, on ‘Obsessed: The Podcast’ in April.

“Some of the choices she made, I don’t believe I would have gone to those, to act in that way. It’s too intense. I’m more of a softie. I don’t have any desire to scare the bejesus out of anybody,” she explained.

She also mentioned that it was not difficult for her to separate herself from the character.

The actress noted, “The thing is, we don’t go home with the consequences. At the end of the day, when you’ve worked hard, and the scenes are connected, and you’ve got the work done, and you’ve made contact with the character, there’s nothing like it. It’s bliss.” 

Elsewhere during the podcast, the ‘Lorenzo's Oil’ star added, “Everything that happens in The Handmaid’s Tale has happened somewhere in this world. Wrap your head around that, if you can. It’s extraordinary.”