The Handmaid’s Tale may be coming to an end, but Hulu is not saying goodbye to Gilead. Earlier this week, the streamer officially picked up sequel The Testaments to series.
The Gilead follow-up series will adapt Margaret Atwood’s 2019 novel of the same name and see Ann Dowd returning as Aunt Lydia, with Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss executive producing. It will follow June’s (Moss) daughter Hannah, known in Gilead as Agnes, and the team behind the series revealed some more key details at the The Handmaid’s Tale‘s final season premiere on Wednesday.
Creator Bruce Miller, who was also behind the original series, told The Hollywood Reporter that The Testaments takes place four years after the end of Handmaid’s Tale and is the story of “Agnes MacKenzie living in Gilead and gradually finding out who she is. In the end of the book The Testaments they bring down Gilead, so that’s the goal of the show and the goal of Agnes growing up.”
He continues, ”We tried not to make the same show — it’s got younger voices, it’s got a completely different feel and a completely different vibe but it’s still Gilead, so I hope that the continuing threads continue to interest people while the new stuff is exciting.”
Executive producer Warren Littlefield added, “These young women have never known any other world other than Gilead, so it’s a very, very different frame of reference and point of view.” He also teased that the look of the show will be quite different, as “it’s pastoral, it’s beautiful, it’s a different architecture, different color palette and a young wonderful cast. But make no mistake, there’s still a Gilead there, so that will reveal itself as well.”
Presumed Innocent‘s Chase Infiniti will play Agnes along with Lucy Halliday as fellow protagonist Daisy, and the show begins production on April 7. Dowd said her last day on Handmaid’s Tale “was wonderful, and then at the end I just cried; saying goodbye is another matter. I’m so full of gratitude, so full of love for everyone, it’s really hard to let go,” and counts herself as “very fortunate” to continue in the Gilead universe.
“It’s exciting and slightly nerve-wracking, but I’ve had the pleasure of meeting the actresses and I’m very much looking forward to working with them,” she added.
The sixth and final season of The Handmaid’s Tale launches with three episodes April 8, followed by a weekly release through the May 27 finale.
Source: Hollywoodreporter
