“Blue Jean” actor Lucy Holliday says the bonds formed between young girls against adversity are what make the Hulu drama series “The Testaments” special.
“We see it in our show, and it’s really a beautiful thing — that friendship can thrive even in the darkest of places,” Holiday 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’ve always been a means of survival,” she said.
Created by Bruce Miller and based on the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood, “The Handmaid’s Tale” depicts the totalitarian society of Gilead, a religious extremist regime ruled by powerful men who subjugate women after war and falling fertility rates. Some women, known as slaves, are forced into reproductive slavery for elite, infertile families.
“The Testaments” is set years later and follows two teenage girls – Agnes, played by “One Battle After Another” actor Chase Infinity, and Daisy, portrayed by Holiday – as they come of age within the same oppressive system.
Agnes has spent most of her life in Gilead, where she was raised devout and obedient, while Daisy is a recent convert from Canada.
The girls meet at Gilead preparatory school for future wives, overseen by Aunt Lydia, played by Ann Dowd, reprising her role from “The Handmaid’s Tale”.
Dowd said that viewers will see a subtly changed Lydia this time around, compared to her explosive and violent temper in the original series.
“I think we see a gentler Lydia who is changed from the inside out,” she said, teasing the character’s new mission to reform Gilead as headmistress of a school for the daughters of the regime’s most powerful families.
However, Infinity cautioned 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 there’s nothing new in it,” the Golden Globe-nominated actor said.
She added, “Going to the set every day and seeing what these girls have to go through – and how their stories unfold – we felt incredibly lucky to be able to tell this story.”
“The Testaments” premieres on Hulu on Wednesday.—Reuters
