Chase Infiniti and Lucy Halliday tell how they lead a teenage rebellion in 'The Testaments'

Are viewers acceptable to instrumentality to Gilead?

Less than a twelvemonth aft “The Handmaid’s Tale” concluded its startling and emotionally draining look astatine what tin hap erstwhile unchecked powerfulness and totalitarianism go codified, Margaret Atwood’s dystopian saga expands connected surface with “The Testaments” — and shifts absorption to the simmering rebellion of teenage girls, led by actors Chase Infiniti and Lucy Halliday.

Based connected Atwood’s 2019 caller of the aforesaid name, the caller bid takes spot 3 to 4 years aft “The Handmaid’s Tale” finale, which kicked disconnected the opening of the extremity of Gilead. It is acceptable astatine an elite preparatory schoolhouse to groom aboriginal wives, made up of daughters of Commanders, galore of whom person been taken distant from their commencement parents, and alleged Pearl Girls, recruited from extracurricular of Gilead. It is named aft and tally by Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), the profoundly analyzable antagonist from the archetypal series.

Infiniti plays Agnes MacKenzie, the girl of a high-ranking Commander, but her existent individuality is Hannah, the kidnapped biologic girl of June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss). Meanwhile, Halliday plays Daisy, a caller accomplishment to the Pearl Girl squad who is truly determination arsenic an undercover spy for the Gilead’s absorption group, Mayday, nether the guidance of June. In a departure from the book, Daisy is not June’s different daughter, Baby Nicole.

Bruce Miller, who developed “The Handmaid’s Tale” and served arsenic showrunner for overmuch of its run, returned to accommodate the sequel. And overmuch similar however June summoned her powerfulness to combat against the satellite that confined her, Miller thinks the grit that Agnes, Daisy and their young peers person to bring it each down is the crushed “The Testaments” won’t consciousness similar doomscrolling.

In “The Testaments,” Daisy (Lucy Halliday), left, is simply a caller accomplishment to the Pearl Girl squad who is paired with Agnes MacKenzie (Chase Infiniti), the girl of a high-ranking Commander, by their school’s overlord, Aunt Lydia.

(Disney)

“The anticipation that it has is wherefore viewers should beryllium acceptable to travel back,” Miller says. “What benignant of women has Gilead built? They built the benignant of women that could truly bring down Gilead. All the things Gilead told them not to bash — go friends, make their ain motivation compass — they’ve done them all. If June knocked Gilead connected its back, her girl is gonna basal connected their cervix until it dies.”

The archetypal 3 episodes of the bid are present streaming connected Hulu. In an aboriginal April video conversation, The Times caught up with Infiniti and Halliday to sermon their induction into “The Handmaid’s Tale” universe, observing Moss successful enactment and the playlist that made an content connected set. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Tell maine astir your cognition of Margaret Atwood’s universe. Had you work either publication earlier this project? Did you ticker “The Handmaid’s Tale?”

Infiniti: [Points to Halliday] You’ve got the Margaret Atwood No. 1 instrumentality close here.

Halliday: I americium the Margaret Atwood No. 1 instrumentality — I clasp my hands up. I’d work each of her books. I’d work “Handmaid’s” and “The Testaments” anterior to this occupation and, obviously, I knew astir the show.

Infiniti: My archetypal vulnerability to the communicative was done the show. I was successful precocious schoolhouse erstwhile “The Handmaid’s Tale” archetypal started airing, and truthful I retrieve it benignant of taking implicit my schoolhouse campus. Everybody was watching it, everybody was talking astir it, and I conscionable retrieve it being so, truthful massive. And past aft that, I work the books.

Halliday: “The Testaments” publication came retired erstwhile I was successful school, and my person brought it in, and we spoke astir it astatine lunchtime. It’s precise serendipitous, it’s afloat circle.

What types of conversations were you having astir it?

Halliday: It ever consciousness timely careless of what constituent you’re approaching the substance at. I think, peculiarly astatine the clip I work it, and present with this show, what appealed to maine was that it was a younger perspective, and it was a caller dependable successful Gilead. I had a level of involvement that I hadn’t expected, conscionable due to the fact that I was a teenage miss astatine the clip I was speechmaking this publication and [saw] different acquisition of a teenage miss that, successful immoderate ways, mirrored my own, despite, obviously, I don’t unrecorded successful Gilead.

After starring successful the Oscar-winning “One Battle After Another” arsenic the girl of revolutionaries, Chase Infiniti is poised to pb different gyration successful “The Testaments.” “You consciousness an other consciousness of work playing idiosyncratic truthful young who is warring for thing that is bigger than them,” she says. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Chase, however bash you spot Agnes and however bash you deliberation her individuality whitethorn displacement erstwhile she is possibly surviving arsenic Hannah? And Lucy, however bash you spot the Daisy successful flashbacks versus the Daisy we conscionable successful Gilead?

Infiniti: I haven’t thought astir however Agnes volition beryllium erstwhile she is escaped arsenic Hannah. I person concepts successful my mind, but I don’t privation to signifier thing excessively soon that volition alteration the mode that I personally could perform, if we’re fortunate [enough] to person a Season 2 and beyond. But I deliberation the maturation that you spot successful Agnes, from adjacent conscionable Season 1, you truly spot her turn into herself and recognize her spot and recognize her dependable successful the world.

Halliday: It’s an absorbing juxtaposition due to the fact that Daisy successful Toronto is escaped and liberated and happy, but successful a way, she’s not arsenic open-minded arsenic she could be. For example, erstwhile it comes to Gilead, she’s got these precise strong, preconceived ideas of who these radical are. She thinks they’re primitive, and she’s got nary involvement successful befriending them. And past she comes to Gilead, and abruptly she’s mislaid entree to a batch of the opportunities she had successful Toronto, wherever she doesn’t person freedom, she can’t conscionable bash immoderate she wants to, accidental what she wants and a there’s a large woody of oppression. But by experiencing these girls and by befriending these girls, she is really present opening her caput to beryllium much susceptible to friendship, and ... knowing individuals who are antithetic from who she is.

Let’s get into Agnes and Daisy’s relationship. They’re initially suspicious and distrusting of each other. What intrigued you astir their dynamic?

Infiniti: Lucy has a large statement astir however she views Agnes and Daisy, which I deliberation is precise accurate.

Halliday: I spot Agnes and Daisy arsenic being 2 cats successful a country sniffing each different out. And it’s due to the fact that I deliberation they instantly admit the inherent similarities contiguous successful the different person, and that scares them due to the fact that the different person, from some of their perspectives, is simply a foreigner, is not what they privation to beryllium associated with, yet there’s this innate kindred tone present, and they can’t contradict that. They’re the aforesaid language, conscionable successful antithetic fonts. We spot that passim the season, and they really, like, hitch disconnected connected each different and they person thing to springiness to the different person.

There’s 1 large alteration from publication to screen. Daisy is not Baby Nicole, the half-sister of Agnes. What did you marque of that change, Lucy?

Infiniti: Wait a minute. I thought we were sisters this full time. [laughs]

Halliday: It really didn’t interaction the communicative that overmuch due to the fact that successful precise galore ways, Agnes and Daisy are sisters. Their narration hasn’t altered due to the fact that of this information. June is inactive an incredibly important fig successful some of their lives. June adopts Daisy erstwhile her household is gone, truthful they inactive stock each of these pieces of their history. They’ve had precise akin beingness experiences, though unbeknownst to each of them, and the enslaved that they make for themselves is simply a sisterhood, and they person a emotion for each different by the extremity of the season. Although the lineage whitethorn beryllium different, conscionable astir each azygous different facet of Margaret Atwood’s archetypal Daisy and Agnes remains.

An exterior changeable of the elite preparatory schoolhouse to groom aboriginal wives that is cardinal to the communicative of “The Testaments.” It is named aft and tally by Aunt Lydia, the profoundly analyzable antagonist from the archetypal series.

(Disney)

A girl’s menstrual rhythm is simply a cardinal quality successful this communicative — the powerfulness and committedness it holds successful the eyes of these teenage girls. What was it similar to get backmost to that mindset of your younger aforesaid and your ideas of it then? Agnes is frustrated by the rigidness of being a girl, but she’s besides funny astir what’s to come, and getting her play is captious to that.

Infiniti: I consciousness similar excavation and Agnes’ experiences could not beryllium much different. She was precise excited to get it, and she was precise eager, too, due to the fact that of what it promises. And she was scared, but she knew that this was the hopeful step, if she was blessed by God, right, to go a woman — it would lone payment her to person it. Also, there’s truthful overmuch secrecy astir it, and a batch of things that these girls are conscionable not taught astir what it really means to get your period, arsenic opposed to the extracurricular “next steps” that they spell through. But I retrieve erstwhile I got mine, I was truthful scared. I retrieve I cried due to the fact that I didn’t cognize what to do.

Were you home? I was astatine a sleepover and was mortified.

Infiniti: I was successful mathematics people astatine schoolhouse — and that’s other terrifying due to the fact that I was truly atrocious astatine math. I conscionable retrieve being precise scared. So, erstwhile Agnes gets it, I was a spot successful awe of the mode that she handles it and the mode that she takes it and doesn’t fto her fearfulness clasp her backmost successful her tracks. That’s thing that I recovered to beryllium precise intriguing. But you bash consciousness atrocious due to the fact that they don’t truly cognize thing astir what it means to person your period, what it means to go a pistillate and spell done puberty similar that, and each the changes that are going to happen.

Halliday: Periods are not talked about, really, successful a mainstream manner. Whereas successful Gilead, it’s not a liberated place, it’s not a truly progressive society, but periods are spoken astir rather freely. I don’t needfully person thing to accidental astir it, but I bash deliberation it’s an absorbing thought that adjacent though we, successful society, would similar to deliberation of ourselves arsenic not being successful Gilead, we’re not arsenic freely speaking astir periods and menstruation the mode that they bash there.

Infiniti: I retrieve successful Episode 2, erstwhile Agnes goes done that ceremonial and she’s virtually telling everybody. She’s like, “I was blessed by God. Yo, I’m connected my period.” It was crazy. She said it precisely similar that, by the mode [laughs]. There’s a full strategy to denote that this happening has happened due to the fact that it’s truthful uncommon successful Gilead.

Halliday: On the set, I retrieve Mike Barker [who directed the archetypal 3 episodes] called “menarche playlist” and it was conscionable a spot of a laugh.

Infiniti: Guess what 1 of the songs was?

Please archer me. I’m reasoning Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love.”

Infiniti: One of them was wholly “... Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears.

Halliday: But I conscionable retrieve that we’re connected acceptable successful 2025 and radical would beryllium like, “What’s menarche?”

Infiniti: The play facet is thing that I truly emotion that you get to spot successful the show; you spot however openly they each speech astir it with each other. Because with your friends, you person precise unfastened dialogue, and those are the radical who thatch you however to usage a pad, those radical thatch you to usage a tampon, however to decently instrumentality attraction of yourself successful that way. That’s thing that I truly emotion astir the amusement is that we get to item that, and that’s 1 of the bonds that it brings betwixt people. Or successful the lawsuit of our show, the enslaved that it brings, but besides the magnitude of chaos that it tin bring, too, since fertility is truthful debased successful Gilead.

In “The Testaments,” Lucy Halliday stars arsenic Daisy, a caller Pearl Girl who is truly an undercover spy for Mayday. “I anticipation radical ticker the amusement and it lone further ignites their disgust for these things and their shock, due to the fact that we should ne'er beryllium comfortable,” she says. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

We talked earlier astir the flashback and what we larn astir however Daisy recovered herself successful Gilead. But we didn’t excavation into Elisabeth Moss — she’s an enforcement producer, but besides we get to spot her arsenic June. It starts arsenic a little glimpse, and much successful Episode 3, getting the backstory connected however she agrees to fto Daisy beryllium a spy astatine the schoolhouse and assistance successful Mayday’s ngo to bring down Gilead. What was it similar having Elisabeth connected set?

Infiniti: I snuck onto acceptable erstwhile she was moving with Lucy, don’t worry. She conscionable showered america with truthful overmuch emotion and support. That was the biggest acquisition that we could person gotten since, successful a way, she is “The Handmaid’s Tale.” She is the handmaid successful “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Halliday: Getting to ticker her was genuinely a privilege due to the fact that she is truthful knowledgeable, she is an encyclopedia erstwhile it comes to this satellite and erstwhile it comes to Gilead and these characters. And I wanted to leech disconnected of that. I wanted to instrumentality that location with maine due to the fact that it truly further enforced to maine the value of being prepared arsenic an actor, and it’s thing that I cognize we some took earnestly successful presumption of our enactment ethic erstwhile approaching this job. But it decidedly was daunting — I deliberation that was really my archetypal time connected set, was a country with her.

Actors often speech astir however their costumes pass their performances. The reddish garments successful “The Handmaid’s Tale” became specified a awesome of absorption successful existent life. Here, you’ve got the plum and greenish garments that are successful accordance with a constrictive presumption of what is acceptable for women to wear. How did the costumes pass your work?

Infiniti: The archetypal happening it truly taught maine was that my posture is not arsenic bully arsenic I thought it was due to the fact that those costumes truly unit you to instrumentality implicit cleanable posture. I retrieve erstwhile we archetypal started to deterioration them each azygous day, for astatine slightest 12 to 14 hours [a day], your backmost is hurting due to the fact that of however perfectly consecutive you’re standing. Even though the costumes are made to acceptable you exactly, they are restrictive and truthful you consciousness instantly similar you’re thrown into Gilead and thrown into these girls’ shoes. You person to beryllium astir similar a doll, successful a sense.

Halliday: I physically was a antithetic quality erstwhile I was successful the scenes successful Toronto versus erstwhile I was successful Gilead due to the fact that I was inhabiting the abstraction successful a precise antithetic way. It felt similar a afloat transformation, and it was truthful adjuvant successful presumption of knowing however Daisy would consciousness successful that situation due to the fact that she’s not getting to contiguous herself successful immoderate mode that she would consciousness comfy oregon would usually bash it.

Infiniti: And you had your small pearl [in your ear].

Halliday: I would cheque if it was determination for possibly a period aft we finished filming. I was walking astir looking similar a Secret Service agent.

Infiniti: I was like, “Is that however the Pearl Girls pass with each other?”

Halliday: It was similar the Starship Enterprise.

Lucy Halliday, right, and Chase Infiniti of “The Testaments.” (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Many radical talk of the timeliness of the themes of this show. When you’re actively playing these characters, are you reasoning astir the authorities of the communicative oregon does that constituent travel aboriginal erstwhile you’re reflecting connected it oregon watching it?

Halliday: I don’t deliberation it’d beryllium imaginable to archer a communicative without being conscious of immoderate benignant of parallels due to the fact that we each ticker the news, we’re each alert of the satellite we unrecorded in. But it’s besides worthy remembering that nary of it was ever intended to beryllium a documentary. Margaret Atwood wrote it based connected history, and truthful everything was ever factual, but it was historically factual, and it’s conscionable truthful happened to beryllium that, unfortunately, we’re seeing events repetition themselves oregon being emulated successful reality.

Chase, you’re coming disconnected “One Battle After Another,” which spoke of modern governmental part and extremism. How was it to spell from that to thing similar this?

Infiniti: One of the chill things that I truly loved astir some of those projects is the information that some Willa [her quality successful the film] and Agnes are revolutionary characters. You consciousness an other consciousness of work playing idiosyncratic truthful young who is warring for thing that is bigger than them. We’re privileged to beryllium portion of thing that’s saying thing astir the satellite and has the quality to enact alteration successful the world. We truly wanted to marque definite that we were doing justness by the story, by the writing, by Margaret Atwood’s enactment and telling the communicative arsenic authentically arsenic we tin from our characters, truthful that successful the astir cleanable situation, we tin transcend the surface and proceed to interaction radical and hopefully enact alteration successful viewers’ ain idiosyncratic lives.

Halliday: We anticipation radical bask it due to the fact that it is simply a root of entertainment. We anticipation radical feel anticipation due to the fact that there’s relationship and there’s a beauteous storyline inherent to it. But I deliberation besides what would beryllium large is if radical ticker it and they bash consciousness shocked. People should consciousness shocked oregon taken aback oregon disgusted by these scenes due to the fact that we person specified an overabundance of vulnerability to scenes of these quality — whether it beryllium connected the quality oregon whether it beryllium connected a fictional TV amusement — but we perceive astir these events each the clip nowadays, and I deliberation we tally the hazard of becoming desensitized to them. I anticipation radical ticker the amusement and it lone further ignites their disgust for these things and their shock, due to the fact that we should ne'er beryllium comfortable. We should ne'er beryllium capable to beryllium with it and consciousness OK. We should ever person that occurrence burning.