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    Your Guide to 'The Testaments' Cast: Meet the New and Returning Characters in 'The Handmaid's Tale' Sequel

    The series, based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, follows a new generation coming of age in Gilead.

    By Jessica Derschowitz
    Published 8 April 2026 In Features

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    l-r Mattea Conforti as Becka, Lucy Halliday as Daisy, and Chase Infiniti as Agnes, in Hulu's 'The Testaments'
    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)
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    This story contains main spoilers for The Testaments. As if the real world doesn’t feel dystopian enough right now, Hulu is bringing us back into the world of Gilead. The Testaments, based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, has officially arrived on our screens. The series is billed as an “evolution” of its predecessor, continuing the story and world we’ve come to know over six seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale. This time around, a new generation of young women is coming of age inside Gilead’s oppressive regime, under the unsparing glare of Commanders, Wives, Eyes, and Aunts (including Ann Dowd’s Aunt Lydia, reprising her role from the original series).

    Read on to learn more about the new young cast of The Testaments—and how their characters fit into the show’s bigger world.

    Chase Infiniti as Agnes

    Chase Infiniti as Agnes in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)

    Agnes, formerly known as Hannah, is technically a character Handmaid’s Tale viewers have met before: She’s the eldest daughter of June, aka Offred (Elisabeth Moss), who was taken from her as the Gilead regime came to power. When the original series ended, Agnes was still in Gilead, having been raised by others inside their oppressive, fundamentalist government. The Testaments (re)introduces Agnes as a dutiful and pious young woman attending Aunt Lydia’s preparatory school for future wives.

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    Infiniti, 25, made her feature-film debut in 2025’s Best Picture-winning One Battle After Another, starring as Willa, the resilient daughter of Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor’s vigilante characters. Rapper Tyler, the Creator cast her in his music video for “Darling, I,” after seeing her in the trailer for that film. Infiniti also appeared in the 2024 Apple TV limited series Presumed Innocent, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga.

    Instagram: @chaseinfiniti

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    Lucy Halliday as Daisy

    Lucy Halliday as Daisy, in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Steve Wilkie)

    Daisy is a newcomer to Gilead. When she arrives, she appears to be a new convert of the Pearl Girl missionaries, after growing up in Canada. Agnes is assigned as her mentor, but unbeknownst to Agnes and their classmates, Daisy is actually working undercover for the Mayday rebel group. Over the course of the series, Agnes and Daisy's bond "becomes the catalyst that will upend their past, their present, and their future," according to the show's official description.

    Halliday, 22, is a Scottish actress who earned acclaim (and a Scottish BAFTA award) for her role in the ‘80s-set lesbian drama Blue Jean. She also appeared in the 2025 musician biopic California Schemin’, directed by James McAvoy.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

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    Instagram: @lucyhallidayy

    Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia

    Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia, in Hulu's 'The Testaments.'

    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)

    Does Aunt Lydia really need an introduction? If you watched The Handmaid’s Tale, her reputation precedes her: As a high-ranking Aunt in Gilead, she’s responsible for the instruction (read: indoctrination) of women inside the country’s brutally patriarchal system. In The Testaments, she runs the preparatory school attended by Agnes and Daisy, which is described as “a place where obedience is instilled brutally and always with divine justification.” However, the sequel series implies she has changed over time—and will call into question just how much she believed in Gilead's mission.

    Dowd, 70, is known, of course, for portraying Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid’s Tale, a role that won her an Emmy Award. She’s a veteran actress whose film and TV credits include The Americans, The Leftovers, Hereditary, Garden State, and The Manchurian Candidate.

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    Instagram: @realanndowd

    Rowan Blanchard as Shunammite

    Rowan Blanchard as Shunammite, in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Steve Wilkie)

    Shunammite is a classmate of Agnes. A pampered teen from a prominent Gilead family, her status affords her a certain level of respect and power amongst her peers.

    Blanchard, 24, came to fame as a child actress—she appeared in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World and then played Riley Matthews on the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World from 2014 to 2017. More recently, she’s appeared in The Goldbergs, A Wrinkle in Time, Snowpiercer, and Poker Face.

    Instagram: @rowanblanchard

    Mattea Conforti as Becka

    Mattea Conforti as Becka, in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Steve Wilkie)

    Becka is another student at Aunt Lydia’s school, but one who’s more working-class, comparatively speaking, than her peers. (Her father is a dentist.) She’s also questioning if she wants the wives-and-mothers future she and her peers are being groomed for.

    Conforti, 19, has appeared on Broadway as the titular character in Matilda the Musical and as young Anna in Frozen—and she also provided the voice of young Elsa on screen in Frozen 2. Other acting credits include Power, NOS4A2, and The Many Saints of Newark.

    Instagram: @matteaconforti

    Mabel Li as Aunt Vidala

    l-r Mabel Li as Aunt Vidala, Mattea Conforti as Becka, and Rowan Blanchard as Shunammite, in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)

    Aunt Vidala is a stern disciplinarian and the heir apparent to the women’s sphere of Gilead. That authority is tested as unrest begins among her students.

    Li has appeared on TV series like Safe Home and Careless. She has also performed theater in her native Australia, including The Seagull at the Sydney Theatre Co.

    Instagram: @mabel_liii

    Amy Seimetz as Paula

    Amy Seimetz as Paula, in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)

    Paula is a Gilead woman whose recent marriage to a powerful Commander has raised her social status. However, that new position is complicated by her relationship with her new stepdaughter, Agnes.

    Seimetz, 44, is an actor and filmmaker who can be seen in films and shows like The Killing, Sweet Tooth, Pet Sematary, Alien: Covenant, and No Sudden Move. She also co-created the TV adaptation of The Girlfriend Experience, directed two episodes of the 2024 Mr. and Mrs. Smith TV reboot, and wrote and directed both the 2012 film Sun Don’t Shine and 2020’s She Dies Tomorrow. (You may also know her as the initial director of HBO's The Idol.)

    Brad Alexander as Garth

    Brad Alexander as Garth, in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)

    Garth is a young Commander who becomes involved in the personal lives of the girls he’s sworn to protect.

    Alexander is a British model and actor who portrayed Edward on season 4 of Netflix’s You. He was also seen in the TV series Surface and Lynley.

    Instagram: @bradalexanderactor

    Zarrin Darnell-Martin as Aunt Gabbana

    Gabbana is another Aunt and a firm proponent of Gilead values. A strict and uncompromising educator, she’s also Aunt Vidala's right-hand.

    Darnell-Martin, 42, is a Canadian actress who has appeared on TV’s Ginny and Georgia, The Good Doctor, and Fellow Travelers.

    Instagram: @zarrindm

    Eva Foote as Aunt Estee

    Eva Foote as Aunt Estee, in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)

    If there’s such a thing as a “cool Aunt” in this world, it’s Aunt Estee. She’s the youngest Aunt at the school, and her energy and kindness endear her to her students.

    Foote has appeared in Murdoch Mysteries, the short film Sally (which she also wrote), and Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy.

    Instagram: @evateresefoote

    Isolde Ardies as Hulda

    Isolde Ardies as Hulda, in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)

    Another classmate and fellow “plum” at Aunt Lydia’s school, Hulda is sweet and friendly but somewhat naive, and her frank observations and optimism have earned her loyal friends.

    Ardies has featured in the TV series Ruby and the Veil and Netflix's Wayward, which also starred Toni Collette.

    Instagram: @isoldeardies

    Shechinah Mpumlwana as Jehosheba

    a handful of commanders daughters dressed in purple run through the field outside of school including SHECHINAH MPUMLWANA, BIRVA PANDYA, MATTEA CONFORTI, ELLEN OLIVIA, CHASE INFINITI, ROWAN BLANCHARD

    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)

    Jehosheba (seen above, far left) is a competitive classmate from a respected Gilead family who is relentless in her pursuit of a high-status marriage.

    Mpumlwana can be seen in 13: The Musical, Creeped Out, The Fire Inside, and has voiced characters on kids’s shows like PJ Masks and Blues Clues & You.

    Instagram: @shechinahhhh

    Birva Pandya as Miriam

    the commanders daughters dressed in purple conversing including SHECHINAH MPUMLWANA, ROWAN BLANCHARD, BIRVA PANDYA, MATTEA CONFORTI, CHASE INFINITI, ISOLDE ARDIES

    (Image credit: Disney/Hulu)

    A girl on the cusp of womanhood, Miriam (above, third from left) struggles under the pressure of the marriage season.

    Pandya has appeared on TV series like The Umbrella Academy, Northern Rescue, Transplant, and The Institute.

    Instagram: @birvaapandya

    Kira Guloien as Rosa

    Kira Guloien as Rosa in Hulu's 'The Testaments'

    (Image credit: Disney/Russ Martin)

    Rosa is a caring, dedicated Martha (the domestic servants in the Gilead social structure) who acts as a maternal figure to Agnes. She’s a much-needed source of love in an otherwise cold household.

    Guloien is a Canadian actress who has featured in Women Talking, The Good Doctor, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and The Boys spin-off series, Gen V.

    Instagram: @kiraguloien

    Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne

    elisabeth moss as june escaping from a hospital with lucy halliday as lucy in the testaments episode 3

    (Image credit: Disney/Steve Wilkie)

    Ahead of The Testaments's premiere, Moss played coy about whether her The Handmaid's Tale character would return. Perhaps it's no surprise that yes, she does: The woman once known as Offred is now a revolutionary working with the Mayday resistance group out of Canada. She's the one who sends Daisy across the border to pose undercover in Gilead.

    Moss, 43, has won two Emmy Awards (for Handmaid's Tale and Top of the Lake). She also played iconic copywriter Peggy Olson on Mad Men and first daughter Zoey Bartlett on The West Wing. More recently, she's appeared in the series Shining Girls, The Veil, and Imperfect Women.

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    hulu Drama
    Jessica Derschowitz

    Jessica Derschowitz is a writer and editor based in New York City. She’s spent her career covering film, TV, theater, and pop culture for publications including Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Variety, Bustle, and more. She also previously managed recommendations content at Tudum, meaning her entire job was telling people which shows and movies what to watch on Netflix. She loves Broadway shows, witty TV comedies, interviewing stars and behind-the-scenes creatives, and figuring out the perfect headline for a story. 

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