‘The Testaments’: Cast, Release Date, and Everything We Know About ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Spinoff

The Handmaid’s Tale may have just wrapped its six-season run on Hulu, but the story of Gilead is far from over.

The tale of the dystopian, post-American society at the center of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel is set to continue in the upcoming Handmaid’s Tale spinoff, The Testaments, based on Atwood’s 2019 sequel novel of the same name.

Written by Atwood as follow-up to her 1985 futuristic novel, The Testaments is set 15 after The Handmaid’s Tale, which Hulu first adapted for the screen in April 2017. The award-winning series stars Elisabeth Moss as June, who is forced to serve as a handmaid in Gilead, the patriarchal, totalitarian state that has overthrown the United States government. After moving through its source material in the first season, the series moved away from Atwood’s novel and embarked on its own path in the following seasons, which showed June sparking an uprising against Gilead and eventually escaping to Canada.

More than three decades after The Handmaid’s Tale was published, Atwood released a sequel novel, The Testaments, in 2019. The novel is now poised to become a Hulu original series. Keep scrolling to see everything we know about Hulu’s The Testaments adaptation.

Is The Testaments confirmed?

Thankfully, fans won’t have to wait around hoping that The Testaments will be ordered. MGM and Hulu in 2019 announced that they would develop The Testaments into a TV adaptation, with Steve Stark, President of Television Production at MGM, saying at the time, “Margaret Atwood is a literary icon who continues to delight and challenge readers through her provocative and compelling prose. She has been an incredible creative partner and resource to MGM throughout the production of Handmaid’s and we look forward to working with her on the story’s exciting next chapter.”

Deadline reported in February that the series is “nearing a series greenlight.”

The upcoming sequel is created by Bruce Miller, who also serves as showrunner and executive produces alongside fellow Handmaid’s Tale executive producer Warren Littlefiend.

What Is The Testaments About?

A sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments is set 15 years after the events of the 1985 novel. Published in 2019, the novel is narrated by three women with ties to Gilead – Lydia, a divorced judge-turned-Aunt who secretly despises Gilead and becomes a mole supplying critical information to the Mayday resistance organization; Agnes Jemima, a young woman raised in the oppressive society as the daughter of Commander Kyle and his wife Tabitha; and Daisy, a Canadian teen who learns she was actually born in Gilead

A synopsis for the show reads, “For these young women, growing up in Gilead is all they have ever known, having no tangible memories of the outside world prior to their indoctrination into this life,” reads the description. “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.”

Who Is in The Testaments Cast?

Starring as the shows three leads will be Presumed Innocent star Chase Infiniti as Gileadean teen Agnes (the Gilead name for Hannah, the daughter of June Osborn), Lucy Halliday as Canadian teen Daisy, and Ann Dowd, who will reprise her role as Aunt Lydia. Recent seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale have hinted at Aunt Lydia’s The Testaments storyline, with the character at one point suggesting a complete restructuring of the handmaid system and vowing “to do things differently.”

“It’s about growing up Gilead. It feels like exactly the opposite world. These are…the most precious girls in Gilead,” showrunner Bruce Miller told Deadline of the three lead characters. “And yet you start to realize they’re walking a plank as well, just like the Handmaids. Hannah has to deal with the June inside of her [and] all of a sudden she starts to feel mighty, mighty, mighty rebellious.”

The cast also includes Rowan Blanchard as Shunammite, a pampered teen from a prominent Gilead family; Mattea Conforti plays Becka, a girl who begins to question whether she wants the life she’s being groomed for; Amy Seimetz as Paula, whose recent marriage to a high-ranking Commander has raised her social status; Brad Alexander as Garth, a young Commander who becomes involved in the personal lives of the girls he’s sworn to protect; Isolde Ardies as Hulda, a guileless girl, full of excitement at the prospect of womanhood, whose optimism earns her loyal friends; Shechinah Mpumlwana as Jehosheba, a competitive classmate from a respected family who is relentless in her pursuit of a high-status marriage; Birva Pandya as Miriam, a girl on the cusp of womanhood; and Kira Guloien as Rosa, a caring and dedicated Martha who is a maternal figure to Agnes.

The Testaments will also introduce viewers to three new Aunts – Mabel Li as Aunt Vidala, a stern disciplinarian and the heir-apparent to the women’s sphere of Gilead; Zarrin Darnell-Martin as Aunt Gabbana, a firm proponent of Gilead values and right hand to Aunt Vidala; and Eva Foote as Aunt Estee, the youngest Aunt whose energy and kindness earn her “cool Aunt” status amongst her students.

Which The Handmaid’s Tale Characters Could Return

Currently, the only Handmaid’s Tale cast member confirmed to appear in The Testaments is Dowd’s Aunt Lydia, but the door could be open for other cast members to reprise their roles. Per previous reporting from Deadline, there is “hope” that Moss will reprise her role as June Osborne in a guest starring role, though that hasn’t yet been confirmed.

Meanwhile, two other stars have already confirmed that they will not be involved in the project: Samira Wiley, who stars as Moira Strand, and Madeline Brewer, who has starred throughout the series as Janine Lindo.

Does The Testaments Have a Release Date?

Currently there is no premiere date for The Testaments. However, the series is currently set to begin filming in Toronto at the end of March, according to recent reports. This means that fans likely won’t have too long of a wait for the show.

Speaking to Deadline in December, Littlefield noted that the sequel is “a priority project” that “we’re spending a lot of time on” and that “we’re full speed ahead.”

Where Will I Be Able To Watch The Testaments?

While the series doesn’t yet have a premiere date, when The Testaments does debut, it will be available to stream exclusively on Hulu.