Bruce Miller Teases Lydia Origin; Dowd Stunned by Statue
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Bruce Miller teased an episode 6 flashback featuring Aunt Lydia with a character named Vidala during the Deadline Contenders TV panel, saying 'keep your eyes open to see what the relationship was in the past.'
- Ann Dowd called the Lydia origin flashback 'one of the greatest experiences of my life,' adding that it was 'beautifully written' and helped her understand 'Lydia's beginning in Gilead.'
- Ann Dowd said she was 'stunned' when she saw the larger-than-life stone statue modeled on her likeness at the in-show 'Aunt Lydia's School,' sarcastically thanking the sculptors for 'the little hump in the back.'
- Chase Infiniti and Lucy Halliday described their real-life bond as mirroring the on-screen chosen-family/sisterhood between Agnes and Daisy, with Halliday noting the 'friction there at the start' between the characters was 'really fun' to play.
- Lucy Halliday called her first week on set a 'baptism of fire' because she and Infiniti spent it working directly with Elisabeth Moss, who guest stars as original resistance leader June Osborne.
- Elisabeth Moss appears as June Osborne in the spinoff, which follows Agnes — daughter of a Captain — growing up in Gilead, with new episodes of The Testaments dropping Wednesdays on Hulu.
Why it matters: The flashback gives Ann Dowd her first real showcase for Aunt Lydia's backstory — territory Handmaid's fans have speculated about for years — and pairs it with a new generation of leads (Infiniti, Halliday) who must carry the franchise forward alongside an original cast that includes Moss. The statue gag also doubles as world-building: Gilead literally enshrines its enforcers, which lands differently once Dowd's real-life discomfort is on camera.
