‘The Testaments’ Boss Explains Bringing Elisabeth Moss Back in ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Spinoff (Exclusive)

Ann Dowd reprises her Emmy-winning role as Aunt Lydia in The Testaments, but she’s not the only star of The Handmaid’s Tale appearing in the spinoff. The new series premiered with three episodes on Wednesday, April 8, and it delivered two Handmaid’s Tale cameos in the opening scene (via voiceover): one from Elisabeth Moss (June Osborne), and another from Sam Jaeger (Mark Tuello). Moss appears onscreen at the end of Episode 1 and throughout Episode 3. The Handmaid’s Tale creator, Bruce Miller, helms The Testaments. Here, he explains the decision to bring back this character in the spinoff and so soon. Warning: Spoilers for The Testaments Season 1 Episodes 1 through 3 and The Testaments novel ahead.

Set about four years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale series finale, The Testaments is a coming-of-age story that finds a new generation of young women in Gilead grappling with the bleak future that awaits them. For these young women, growing up in Gilead is all they have ever known, having no tangible memories of the outside world before their indoctrination into this life. Facing the prospect of being married off and living a life of servitude, they will be forced to search for allies, both new and old, to help in their fight for freedom and the life they deserve. The show is based on the 2019 Margaret Atwood novel of the same name.

The Testaments stars Dowd, Chase Infiniti, Lucy Halliday, Rowan Blanchard, Mattea Conforti, Mabel Li, and more. And in a surprise (but perhaps unsurprising) appearance at the end of the first episode, Moss returns as June Osborne. She comes back in Episode 3, which reveals how Pearl Girl Daisy (Halliday) ended up in Gilead. She’s on an undercover mission with Mayday, the rebel group that June joined in The Handmaid’s Tale. June has been active with Mayday since the events of The Handmaid’s Tale‘s final season, and she was friends with Daisy’s parents, Melanie and Neal, whose murders at the hands of Gilead prompted Daisy to help Mayday.

Miller tells TV Insider that Moss’s Testaments role was an expansion of her presence in Atwood’s book.

“She’s a character in the book from a distance, and you really do feel her influence. She’s in at the end, and looking back through the story and putting the puzzle pieces together, you can feel her hand. That was part of it,” Miller says. “I felt like June’s story isn’t over, and she’s certainly not going to stop until she finds out the fate of her daughter.”

He’s talking about Hannah, who was kidnapped by Gilead as a young child, rehomed, and renamed Agnes. Agnes is the main character of The Testaments, played by One Battle After Another‘s Chase Infiniti. Agnes has no recollection of her biological mother. All she knows about June is that she was a rebel handmaid who caused mass destruction in Gilead. The Handmaid’s Tale ended with June and Luke (O-T Fagbenle) deciding to search for Hannah separately. As of the time of publication, Luke has not appeared in The Testaments.

Disney / Steve Wilkie

In The Testaments novel, June is mentioned a handful of times before she actually shows up at the end of the book. The novel is set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 1. The Hulu drama created its own story after Season 1, pushing viewers further down the timeline. That’s why only four years have passed since Boston was liberated in The Testaments instead of 15 like in the book. The book’s bigger time jump also allowed for baby Nichole to be a main character. In the novel, Daisy is Nichole, who returns to Gilead in disguise to try to help topple the regime from the inside.

The Testaments series changes Nichole’s plot. Daisy is not Nichole in disguise, but she becomes a daughter figure to June after Melanie and Neil die. June’s influence on The Testaments book plot was expanded for the series adaptation to continue the story of June’s search for Hannah. Moss is also an executive producer on the series.

“It’s obvious that that character has more distance to go,” Miller says of June. “It’s just the next chapter of The Handmaid’s Tale story is about Hannah, and it’s not focused on [June]. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a huge stake that we’ve built up for a long time in this. And also, a character, to get through this, has to be very patient, and we do know that’s difficult for the character. It brings a lot to the table if you already know who that is; it’s a very juicy person. But if you don’t know who it is, it’s interesting anyway because you quickly find out she’s somebody dangerous.”

“[Moss] was always part of my conception of the show,” Miller continues. “Elisabeth was also a creative partner from the very beginning of The Handmaid’s Tale. Before she said yes to the script, we were having conversations that have influenced The Testaments. She has been with me since the beginning, and I’m very grateful that she’s had time to come along and work in this.”

The Testaments, Wednesdays, Hulu