‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 5: Here’s Why Mr. Ryan Wheeler Actor Lucas Neff Looks so Familiar
Lucas Neff joined the cast of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 for a very disturbing role. His character, Ryan Wheeler, and his wife, Alanis, take in Serena Joy Waterford when the Gilead information center is shut down. However, it quickly becomes apparent that these Gilead fanatics have ulterior motives. Here’s where fans have likely seen Neff before.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5.]
Lucas Neff plays Ryan Wheeler in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 5
In The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Serena Joy finds herself pregnant with no place to go when the Gilead information center shuts down. The Wheeler family takes Serena in, but they have more than just altruistic intentions. Serena finds that she is essentially a handmaid, expected to obey the Wheeler’s orders and not leave the house without their permission.
Lucas Neff’s The Handmaid’s Tale character Ryan Wheeler is a powerful man and Gilead sympathizer. However, he lives in Toronto, and Alanis tells Serena that he doesn’t answer to “those commanders” in Gilead.
Ryan is soft-spoken though he is a very dangerous man. However, he gives in to a few of Serena’s requests. First, he allows her to go with Ezra to kill June Osborne. Then he approves her trip to the opening of Gilead’s fertility center. When Serena goes behind Alanis’ back with these requests, it enrages her. In episode 9, she slaps Serena in the face.
Here’s where you’ve seen Lucas Neff before
Lucas Neff’s appearance in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 was a surprise, and fans may have found themselves trying to place the actor’s face. Neff is most famous for starring as Jimmy Chance in the Fox sitcom Raising Hope.
Neff’s character Jimmy becomes a single father after impregnating a serial killer during a one-night stand. He raises his daughter Hope with the help of his equally clueless parents, batty Maw Maw, and friend and secret crush Sabrina.
Between his time on Raising Hope and The Handmaid’s Tale, Neff appeared in the CBS comedy series Carol’s Second Act. He has also done voice work for children’s shows such as Trash Truck, Big Hero 6: The Series, and Monsters at Work.
Lucas Neff and Genevieve Angelson took ‘couples’ photos when they first met
Genevieve Angelson plays Alanis Wheeler, Lucas Neff’s on-screen wife in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5. The pair quickly had to become a convincing couple and jump into a romantic photoshoot. “Lucas Neff and I had to take these very loving pictures as a couple pretty much the instant we met,” Angelson told Town&Country.
“They’d go in the picture frames around our characters’ home, so we had to look the most in love that these people had ever been. It was very much like, ‘so nice to meet you, let’s conjure incredible chemistry and deep intimacy immediately.’ Even if you’re an actor, that’s not not awkward.”
Don’t miss new episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Wednesdays on Hulu.
