In The Testaments, the sequel series to The Handmaid’s Tale, Agnes (Chase Infiniti) grows up at a school for Pearl Girls in Gilead run by Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) and meets Daisy (Lucy Halliday), a newcomer from Canada who has chosen to give up her old life, as they begin to learn what’s actually true about the world around them.
Awards Buzz spoke with Mattea Conforti and Rowan Blanchard about portraying Pearl Girls Becka and Shunammite. Conforti shared her connection to this world:
“My family and I have always been very big Handmaid’s Tale fans. It’s played such an important role in my life and I feel like it’s a necessary show to watch as a young woman, so being able to step into this universe and be given the opportunity to have a role within it has been such an incredible experience.”
Blanchard identified a key difference compared to previous parts:
“I think for me it was a challenge to play somebody who has no outside reference for the world. I think that I’ve played in sci-fi and dystopic things before, but my characters had knowledge of what the world used to be like, and in this one I just have no reference and I had to keep reminding myself that, as an actor, I don’t know any better.”
Conforti knew what she would tell her character if she could whisper something into her ear:
“That it’s okay to be yourself. It’s okay to remain curious. I think Becca really struggles with that. I think she is constantly playing this inner game of tug of war of, should I remain individualistic and really hone in on what I’m interested in and deviate from the norm in that sense, or do I need to find my purpose in a world and really feel like that I belong here and live according to these limitations?”
Blanchard was more direct and straightforward with her theoretical advice:
“I would tell Shunammite to relax a little bit and not be so mean all the time. It’s not that serious.”
New episodes of The Testaments premiere weekly on Wednesdays through the season finale on May 27th.
