The Testaments, the long-awaited spinoff of The Handmaid’s Tale, premiered in April 2026, picking up years after the events of the flagship series.
While the new drama centers on a fresh group of women fighting to dismantle the dystopian regime of Gilead from within, several familiar faces from the original cast have resurfaced to lend their support.
Based on Margaret Atwood‘s 2019 sequel novel, The Testaments show follows Agnes (the aged-up Hannah) who begins her story as a “Plum” (a teen at Gilead’s preparatory school to become wives) before becoming a “Green” once she gets her first period — giving her the ability to marry a high-ranking commander. Viewers also meet Daisy, who posed as one of the “Pearl Girls,” a convert to Gilead’s fundamentalist religion) to smuggle damning intel about Gilead’s regime out of the country. Aunt Lydia, meanwhile, narrates the story while quietly working as a covert source inside the regime.
While the book is set 15 years after The Handmaid’s Tale, the onscreen version takes place only four years after the OG series finale. Chase Infiniti and Lucy Halliday star as Agnes and Daisy, respectively, while Ann Dowd reprises her role as Aunt Lydia.
See which other Handmaid’s Tale stars have returned in The Testaments so far:
Ann Dowd Anchors ‘The Testaments’ as Aunt Lydia
Dowd’s Aunt Lydia is the heart of the spinoff, serving as both narrator and a covert source within Gilead. The series digs deeper into her backstory through carefully chosen flashbacks, exploring the choices that shaped her into the formidable figure fans came to know on The Handmaid’s Tale.
Creator Bruce Miller exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2026 that the writers were “very mindful” about how much of Lydia’s past to reveal.
“We were very mindful of the fact that we are only showing a few peeks into her past, and what to show in those,” Miller said, adding that the spinoff was deliberate “about the level of trauma” they wanted “to put the audience through.”
He continued, “So when looking at the material in The Testaments, we wanted to make sure [the flashbacks] lined up with our goal of understanding Lydia’s mindset at the beginning of Gilead and why she made the choices she did.”
Elisabeth Moss Makes a Surprise Cameo
Despite The Handmaid’s Tale wrapping in 2025, Moss found a way back into the story. During the Wednesday, April 8, series premiere, viewers learned that Daisy is involved in the secret resistance group, Mayday. In a flashback to her life before Gilead, Daisy is shown skateboarding into her parents’ vintage store while June watches her in the background.
Moss reappears in the show’s third episode, getting Daisy to safety after her parents’ brutal deaths at the hands of Gilead. Beyond her onscreen cameo, Moss also serves as a producer on the series.
Amanda Brugel Returns as Rita
In another major reunion moment, Brugel reprised her role as Rita, a Martha from the OG series, in the seventh episode of The Testaments season 1.
Based in Canada, Rita is now a key Mayday operative, according to Gizmodo, where she was tasked with preparing Daisy for her undercover mission to infiltrate Gilead.
“You protect yourself by following their rules. And don’t trust anyone except your handler,” she told Daisy, warning her not to make any friends in Gilead. “Don’t ever underestimate them. Ever. They have spent their lives being vigilant in a way that you never have. So if you go in there thinking that you are smarter than them, you will die.”
The Testaments airs Wednesdays on Hulu and Disney+.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
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