Elisabeth Moss Says Her ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Character Was Always Going to Be in ‘The Testaments’
Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale didn’t have to wait long to learn if June Osborne—the resilient, rebellion-sparking character played by Elisabeth Moss—would be in the sequel series The Testaments. June popped up at the end of the first episode and then appeared throughout the season as a mentor to Daisy (Lucy Halliday), a Toronto girl who infiltrates Gilead as a Mayday operative.
At the end of season one, June agrees to let a frustrated Daisy try her own tactics—with an emphasis on minimizing collateral damage—as the plot to overthrow Gilead begins to gather steam. It’s a big moment for the former Handmaid, who’s used to calling all the shots; June is also forever thinking of her daughter, Hannah, who was kidnapped by Gilead as a toddler and is now the same age as Daisy. We know Hannah as Agnes (Chase Infiniti), who happens to be one of Daisy’s closest friends, and we get to see the moment where June realizes Daisy has a direct link to her long-lost child.
In a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Moss talked about June’s role in The Testaments and why it was important for her to continue telling the character’s story.
“We always knew that June was going to be in it,” Moss said. “I had known for years from Bruce [Miller, who created both The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments] that June wasn’t going to get Hannah out [at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale].” The decision was further confirmed, she added, when “Margaret Atwood wrote the sequel [novel], and Hannah didn’t get out.”
The way The Handmaid’s Tale left things—with some storylines concluding, but June’s own saga left open-ended—set up the part she’d play in the sequel, Moss said. “The most important thing for me was that we could end Handmaid’s in a way that made sense for that show, but also made sense for The Testaments, which is an incredible gift and tricky with the audience.”
At first, Moss’ casting in The Testaments was kept carefully secret. “It was difficult at times to not be able to tell the fans, ‘Guys, it’s okay. June’s story is so not over. The Handmaid’s ending isn’t really even an ending,’” she said. What’s more, “[Miller and I] knew that I was going to have multiple [Testaments] episodes and that there was going to be an arc and a larger plan for June.”
As for season two, Moss says it’s too early to know how June might factor into the action. However, she added, “I would never want to stop playing her. So for me, yes. As long as there’s a Gilead, she’s never going to stop fighting. There has to be so much more story that we can explore, and it’s so cool that now we have this next generation of actors to explore it through.”
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