“Blue Jean” actor Lucy Halliday says the bonds that form between young girls in the face of adversity are at the heart of what makes the Hulu drama series “The Testaments” special.
“We see that on our show, and it’s really beautiful: that friendship can flourish even in the darkest places,” Halliday said of the coming-of-age drama, which continues the story of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
“Sisterhood and community have always been important, and they have always been a means of survival,” she added.
Created by Bruce Miller and based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale depicts the totalitarian society of Gilead, a religious extremist regime ruled by powerful men who subjugate women in the wake of war and collapsing fertility rates. Some women, known as handmaids, are forced into reproductive servitude to elite, infertile families.
Set years later, “The Testaments” follows two teenage girls – Agnes, played by “One Battle After Another” actor Chase Infiniti, and Daisy, played by Halliday – as they come of age within the same oppressive system.
Agnes has spent most of her life in Gilead, raised to be pious and obedient, while Daisy arrives as a recent convert from Canada.
The girls meet at a Gilead preparatory school for future women, overseen by Aunt Lydia, played by Ann Dowd, reprising her role from “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Dowd said viewers will see a subtly changed Lydia this time around compared to her explosive and violent attitude in the original series.
“I think we’re seeing a gentler Lydia, someone who has changed from within,” she said, teasing the character’s new mission to reform Gilead as the headmistress of a school for daughters of the regime’s most powerful families.
However, Infiniti warned that ‘The Testaments’ continues to explore the same cycle of subjugation that defined both the original novel and the series.
“Everything she (Margaret Atwood) writes is taken straight from history, so unfortunately none of it is new,” said the Golden Globe-nominated actor.
“Going to set every day and seeing what these girls have to go through – and how their stories unfold – made us feel incredibly lucky to be able to tell this story,” she added.
“The Testaments” premieres Wednesday on Hulu. – Reuters
