O. T. Fagbenle

“His wife and child are in mortal jeopardy, as is his sanity,” describes O-T Fagbenle in regard to his character Luke Bankole’s mental state in the fourth season of Hulu‘s Emmy Award-winning drama “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which premiered with three episodes on April 28 and will conclude its 10-episode run on June 16. In our exclusive video interview, Fagbenle discusses how his character is “put through the wringer” in new fashion in the show’s current installment, which the actor calls “mind-melting.”

Fagbenle discussed with us his extremely personal project Maxxx (based on a series of pilots we actually discussed at that very same press day). The show builds on the pilots in a way that really runs the gamut, as the series, about a possibly washed-up pop singer (played by Fagbenle, one of the many roles he has in the creation of the series), is funny, cool, sad, serious and above all, it’s musical, which seems to be a constant for Fagbenle. The man of many talents is currently quarantining in Tanzania, and the following is a condensed and edited version of our conversation discussing Maxxx, The Handmaid’s Tale, and oh yeah, a slightly anticipated Marvel movie by the name of Black Widow.

Dapper with a capital D was my first thought upon seeing O-T Fagbenle stroll into DuJour’s offices. Coolly dressed head-to-toe in a three-piece suit without the jacket, (driving cap included), 36-year-old Fagbenle was surprisingly—dare I say, delightfully—dressed up in comparison to his latest down-to-Brooklyn role. In Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Fagbenle plays Luke, starring opposite Elisabeth Moss and Samira Wiley, to name a few. And that’s just the beginning.