Anyone who has watched “The Handmaid’s Tale” probably expected them to win, but there were still huge celebrations at Sunday night’s Emmy awards after the dystopian series won the best drama award.

Based on the novel of the same name by author Margaret Atwood, the series tells the chilling tale of a possible future world where women become infertile and those that can still have babies are kept as virtual slaves to produce young for prominent people in the community. "The Handmaid's Tale" was released in 1985 but became a best seller in 2017 following the release of the series.

Atwood was heard to tell People that in the current world, readers no longer say the story is unrealistic.

Outstanding Emmy wins for ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

The Hulu drama had heavy competition in the form of “House of Cards,” “Better Call Saul,” “The Crown,” “Stranger Things,” “Westworld” and “This is Us.” However, “Game of Thrones,” which won the award in 2015 and 2016 was out of the running this year due to the latest season’s late premiere date.

The series creator Bruce Miller and the cast of “The Handmaid’s Tale” joined author Atwood on stage to accept the coveted award. Miller made a brief speech to thank everyone involved before telling the cast to get to work, as they have a "lot to fight for."

The series itself was not the only award-winner, however, as leading actress Elisabeth Moss won the Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama.

Miller received the award for outstanding writing for a drama and Reed Morano was rewarded with an outstanding directing award. Ann Dowd (“The Leftovers”) also won an Emmy by snagging the outstanding supporting actress award.

Elisabeth Moss drops ‘f-word’ in her excitement

Accepting her award Moss thanked Hulu, MGM and the Academy for supporting her and all of her fellow nominees, saying they had all inspired her.

She also went on to thank the “incredible cast” of the series, crew members, author Atwood for what she did in writing the book and many more people in her excited acceptance speech. Entertainment Weekly noted that Moss dropped the “f-word” on a couple of occasions during her speech.

Ann Dowd tears up accepting her Emmy

Dowd was almost overwhelmed emotionally as she received her well-deserved award and was also up against some serious competition.

Other nominees for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series included youngster Millie Bobby Brown for her role in “Stranger Things" and Uzo Aduba who plays Suzanna Warren aka “Crazy Eyes” in the prison drama “Orange is the New Black.” Thandie Newton was nominated for the role of Maeve in “Westworld,” while Chrissy Metz of “This Is Us” also got a nod.

Another cast member of “The Handmaid’s Tale” was also nominated for the award, with Samira Wiley ("Orange is the New Black") getting a nod for her role as Moria. On an interesting note, Brown, at 13 years of age, was among the youngest ever Emmy nominees.

Dowd was especially tearful at the awards ceremony, as she had also received an outstanding guest actress nomination for her role at Patti Levin in “The Leftovers.” In her acceptance speech, she said she felt like it was a dream and that she has been acting for a long time. She added that she didn’t have the words to describe her feelings and went on to thank everyone involved.
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