Elisabeth Moss Reprises June in Testaments Premiere
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Elisabeth Moss reprised her role as June Osborne in the premiere of Hulu's 'The Testaments,' surprising fans who feared the hero of six seasons of 'The Handmaid's Tale' would not return; Moss also executive produces the new series.
- Bruce Miller, showrunner and executive producer, said June is 'such an anchor' for Agnes that the story couldn't exist without her, calling Moss a creative partner 'since the very, very beginning' and crediting schedule moves for getting her into the show.
- The premiere scene pairs June with Daisy's (Lucy Halliday) Toronto storyline: Daisy longboards to a store while The Cranberries' 'Dreams' plays and June observes silently — no dialogue between them.
- Margaret Atwood's source novel casts Agnes as Hannah and Daisy as Nicole, both daughters of June, but Miller confirmed Daisy is not Nicole in the TV series, signaling key divergences from the book.
- Lucy Halliday called Moss 'an encyclopedia of knowledge' about Gilead and said Moss's on-set 'thumbs up' gave the new cast the confidence to step into a beloved world 'without messing that up' for audiences.
- Hulu dropped three premiere episodes on premiere night, then will release subsequent episodes one per Wednesday.
Why it matters: For Hulu, the surprise June inclusion lowers the risk that devoted Handmaid's Tale fans will reject the spinoff on day one. Miller's three-episode premiere bow and weekly Wednesday cadence is a bet that Moss's gravitas can convert a Margaret Atwood adaptation into appointment TV, with Lucy Halliday and Chase Infiniti now carrying the franchise forward.
