“The Handmaid’s Tale” sequel “The Testaments,” based on a 2019 novel by Margaret Atwood, is expanding the Gilead universe.
“It was very exciting to see this other side of Gilead, with all these privileged people. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ was about those at the very bottom of the social structure. Here are the women who are at the absolute top. And it still kind of sucks,” said creator Bruce Miller at French fest Series Mania after the show’s world premiere.
Set in Aunt Lydia’s elite preparatory school for future wives, the show follows the daughters of Commanders, many of whom have been taken away from their birth parents, and so-called Pearl Girls, recruited from outside Gilead.
“As Bruce said, it’s a different world entirely. And Lydia is a different person,” said Ann Dowd, who won an Emmy for her role. Her character emerges from a “very crushed place” at the end of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
“She was brought to her knees, literally, in deep and profound remorse. When that happens, you can say: ‘I don’t care. I will keep doing what I’m doing.’ Or you can change the way you see the world, acknowledge what you have done, live with the pain and the misery of that, and begin a new life.”
“I remember those early scripts and how clear they were about who Lydia is. I was raised in a Catholic home and educated by Catholic sisters. They weren’t unkind, but you learn that you’re not special. You have a job to do, so don’t look for attention. Don’t walk away before it’s complete. Get it done.”
Although the environment Aunt Lydia creates for her students comes with “less pain and suffering,” Gilead’s rules are still strict.
“I don’t know if [the current political situation] makes the story more relevant today than at any other time, but the interesting thing about Margaret Atwood is that she puts her finger on the points of friction that exist forever,” noted Miller, who first discovered her work in college.
“That was a long, long, long time ago, and it seemed like the right time to read that book. Then, 25 or 30 years later, I made the show and it still seemed as if ait was built for that time. It’s the same with ‘The Testaments.’ I think it’s more of a reflection on Margaret’s sense of where women are and what things they’re always fighting.”
He added: “As Margaret says, you can look back on any point in history and find horrible things being done to women. But I think having her write ‘The Testaments’ and say there’s hope in Gilead, is really her way of saying there’s hope for women in general. Women will move forward.”
Joining Ann Dowd are Chase Infiniti, acclaimed for her turn in Oscar-winning “One Battle After Another” as the daughter of Tayana Taylor’s Perfidia Beverly Hills, and Lucy Halliday. As Agnes and Daisy, they form an unexpected friendship.
Chase Infiniti in ‘The Testaments’
Disney
“We were very grateful to have Ann, [producer] Warren Littlefield, Bruce and also Elizabeth Moss, who’s an executive producer, as our encyclopedias for everything. We could ask them any question we had about Gilead. On top of that, they welcomed us into the world with such love and support,” said Infiniti, who “fell in love” with the script.
“It was so intriguing, and so different from Willa and ‘One Battle’. I thought I would have a hard time with the source material – it’s incredibly heavy. But because of the community that was built on set, anytime I struggled, they were there to catch me.”
According to Halliday, they both felt a “weight of responsibility.”
“‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ was so beloved. It really resonated with audiences, and the books were so brilliant. When you step into it, you want to do it justice. You don’t want to be the cog in the machine that disrupts what already existed.”
Miller also praised Mike Barber, “The Handmaid’s Tale” veteran who directed the first three episodes.
“No one knows ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ better than Barber. He also knew what things he would like to do differently and what he could do with a younger cast. He was amazing at building the world.”
Ultimately though, it’s all about Margaret Atwood.
“Margaret’s very involved in the show, and she’s busier than all of you put together. She’s the busiest 86-year-old I’ve ever met! From the beginning, she was more used to her work getting adapted than I was adapting her work. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ was a play, an opera, a ballet, and a movie. She was very loose with it and I was a little stricter,” he recalled.
She still gets every script and watches every episode.
“She’s the first person I talk to – even before the studio, before Warren. She has to say: ‘Ok, that makes sense.’ When you see her eyes light up, you know you really got something.”
Warren Littlefield added: “Every time we’ve spoken to Margaret, we’ve learned something about the world we live in. We always felt just a little bit smarter.”
“The Testaments” also expands the color palette of the show, with young female students dressed in pink and purple, and with white reserved for the Pearl Girls.
“Margaret and I talked about it a lot. We had all these new characters and we wanted to underline they were still cloaked by Gilead. They were still categorized by Gilead, but they were different women,” said Miller.
“We had discussions about shorts sleeves, tons of discussions about the length of skirts and how much skin you could show. It got weird. You start feeling like you’re naked when you’re wearing your regular clothes, because it’s so restrictive.”
Littlefield observed: “The red robe from ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is so iconic. It has been used as a symbol around the world, and it has made us tremendously proud. But you won’t find it in ‘The Testaments.’ That’s part of us saying: This is a new world.”
“Bruce and I had a wonderful experience watching June [played by Elisabeth Moss] come to life. We saw her on the monitor, and we said: ‘I think this is going to work.’ Now, all these years later, we were on the set of ‘The Testaments,’ looking at the monitor and watching Chase as Agnes. It was history repeating itself.”
‘The Testaments’
Disney
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