Elisabeth Moss Makes Surprise Return as June in 'The Testaments,' Explains Why She Decided to Reprise 'Handmaid's Tale' Role in Sequel

Elisabeth Moss is reprising her role as June in Hulu’s The Testaments, a sequel series to her Emmy-winning show The Handmaid’s Tale.

Hulu kept Elisabeth‘s involvement with the show a surprise until the first three episodes dropped on Wednesday (April 8) and now she’s opening up about returning as June.

The rest of the post contains spoilers, so beware of reading further!

Keep reading to find out more…

The series follows young teens Agnes (Chase Infiniti), dutiful and pious, and Daisy (Lucy Halliday), a new arrival and convert from beyond Gilead’s borders. As they navigate the gilded halls of Aunt Lydia’s elite preparatory school for future wives, a place where obedience is instilled brutally and always with divine justification, their bond becomes the catalyst that will upend their past, their present and their future.

Agnes is June’s daughter Hannah, who was stolen from her as a toddler and raised by a Commander in Gilead.

At the end of the series premiere, we learn that Daisy is working with Mayday and has infiltrated Gilead with the help of June, who shows up at the very end of the episode.

Episode three shows Daisy’s backstory and how her adopted parents were killed by Gilead spies because of their work with the resistance. June saves Daisy from being abducted by their people and then recruits her to be in Mayday.

In an interview with Variety, Elisabeth said, “We kind of followed our hearts, honestly. t wasn’t even like a big discussion about, should she or should she not [come back]? One of the differences from the book is that the timeline is different. So Margaret put ‘The Testaments’ 15 years ahead, but we don’t do that. I think it’s four years, so it’s even that long. So it made more sense to have June in it, as opposed to she’s off in a completely different place. She’s still active in the world. It wasn’t a discussion of whether or not to do it.”

Elisabeth says that show creator Bruce Miller asked her to return as June.

She said, “I think at some point, I’m sure, Bruce was like, this is what I’m thinking — would you want to? And I was like, yeah, of course! Like, how do you get Daisy involved in the resistance in a way that is exciting for the new audience, and the audience that is returning? Well, who is the leader of the resistance, right? He’s like, ‘Isn’t it June?’ Like, who are you going to have, some other person come in and be that? It was organic.”

How many more episodes will Elisabeth appear in? It’s unknown right now, but she’s willing to be in more!

“For me, I think it was more asking how and why? And the ‘How close does she get to Hannah?’ discussion,” she said. “I guess we’ll call her Agnes. Like, how? What is that relationship? And that’s always the thing that we’re talking about. But it just seemed very natural. And I’m literally, like, very much, you call and I’m there, just let me know. I love playing that character so much, and because I love who I work with on that show so much, I’m like, doesn’t matter, just let me know.”

There’s another random celebrity cameo in the premiere episode!