00:00The series tell the story of a rebellion from the inside. Agnes' journey is both similar and opposite from the
00:10June's journey. How is the testament in the same way similar and opposite from the Handmaid's Tale?
00:18Well, I think our mandate from the beginning was certainly not to make the seventh season of the Handmaid's Tale.
00:23We could have done that. They would have been very happy.
00:25This is a very different project. So I think we focused on those differences, the difference that it's brighter, it
00:32covers people who are very happy, not happy, but at the top of this community and very valued, these women.
00:38And so I think that you wanted the whole tone of it to feel young and energetic and have that
00:45being kind of squashed by the patriarchy, but you want it to be there.
00:49In the Handmaid's Tale, this poor woman had been pulled out of her life and was in bondage. So she
00:54was thinking about what she was missing. Our women are thinking about what they have.
00:58So, but I think in terms of story-wise, we wanted to underline those differences, but we also wanted to
01:04make sure it felt like a very rich continuation and component of that world.
01:09You know, Warren and I, having done that before, and most of our crew moved over, so a lot of
01:15the craft people moved over from Handmaid's Tale to Testaments to the point where, you know, Handmaid's Tale ended, and
01:22then three months later, we were rolling camera on the Testaments.
01:25So I think those people were all up for a very new creative challenge, but there was a certain sense
01:30of they were very comfortable with where they were starting, so they were allowed to go much further afield.
01:36I think we had plenty of things that we wanted to make sure were different, and we had plenty of
01:40ties to the mothership, as we call it.
01:42So three to four years after the end of The Handmaid's Tale, that's our timeline, we're kind of an alternative
01:49now.
01:51And, of course, as Bruce was saying, a different point of view.
01:54Instead of June's point of view, we have the point of view of these young women and Lydia in this
02:01new world, and geographically, it's a new location.
02:05And I thought that Agnes' rebellion is much more violent, because she learned how to fight for something that she
02:20doesn't know she needs.
02:22She changed completely her perception of the world.
02:27What do you think about this aspect of Agnes?
02:30Well, I think what we're always trying to do in a TV show is you're trying to drop in on
02:35the important minutes of their life, not the unimportant minutes.
02:37So you're exactly right.
02:38This is where she turns from old Agnes into new Agnes.
02:42The minute she meets Daisy, she started that transition.
02:52And in terms of, I think what you want, you want it to be an evolution of the character of
02:58June, that personality, when you see this next generation.
03:02Because I think a lot of us are dealing with, you know, through the world is very complicated and busy
03:07and mean place these days, cruel place.
03:10And I think that it's been going on long enough that we're looking towards the next generation of young women
03:15and how are they going to interact with that.
03:17And I know, looking at this next generation of young actors, that you're exactly right.
03:21They're going to be very obstetrious.
03:24And season one for Agnes is an awakening.
03:28Fellow fans of The Handmaid's Tale and of Margaret's books, both Handmaids and Testaments, well, they may know more about
03:37Agnes than Agnes does.
03:39But what we're going to experience is her awakening this season.
03:42And what about telling a story?
03:46The Testament focuses heavily on the importance of storytelling and to find our own voice.
03:57And I think about the voiceover of Agnes and Daisy and on Lydia's diaries.
04:06So, for you as a storyteller, how does having a personal voice helps you to tell a lot of stories?
04:16In The Testaments, the point of view is split, really, in the novel, between three different characters.
04:22And just being able to go beyond June and to see different parts of the world from different perspectives is
04:30huge.
04:31Because, you know, The Handmaid's Tale is very much from her point of view.
04:34And this show is very much from three different points of view.
04:37And also, it has a little bit of, as you said, it's a story told in perspective.
04:41So, I think the nice thing is you're getting to know not just the Agnes you know now, but Agnes
04:47a few years in the future talking about Agnes we know now.
04:51And if I talk to you now about what you were like as your 13-year-old self, you have
04:55a very different sense than when you were 13.
04:57So, having that little bit of distance, I mean, having a voiceover just as a storyteller is just phenomenally helpful,
05:05especially in a world where they cannot express their true feelings.
05:09You know, television is, storytelling is point of view.
05:12That's all it is.
05:13I mean, think of the world of The Testaments.
05:16If it didn't, if you weren't stuck in this point of view, you knew everything that was going to happen.
05:20I mean, Moby Dick is a very different show, a very different story from the guy on the dock who
05:26just says bye and they never come back.
05:28I mean, it's all about point of view.
05:31And I think here, point of view actually tells you pieces of the story, but it also hides really interesting
05:36from you.
05:37And as Warren said, the audience might know more about Agnes than Agnes does.
05:43But seeing her see that world revealed to her and as a complicated character in that role of it being
05:51revealed to her, that's what's fascinating.
05:53I mean, it's all about the story.
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