Elisabeth Moss Reprises ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Role In ‘The Testaments’

SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from Hulu‘s series premiere of The Testaments.

Surprise! If fans of The Handmaid’s Tale were worried they’d never see June Osbourne again, they needn’t have. Elisabeth Moss, who executive produces Hulu’s The Testaments, made her big return as the heroic character she played across 6 seasons of the mothership series in the new show’s premiere episode tonight.

Series showrunner and executive producer Bruce Miller spoke to Deadline about the decision to have June be part of the show from Episode 1.

“I think in some ways, June is such an anchor for the character of Agnes [Chase Infiniti] that I don’t think you could have the story without June, even if there was no Handmaid’s Tale,” he revealed. “Elisabeth Moss has been our creative partner since the very, very beginning, and in every way. So I think that having her as an executive producer, you feel the presence of June all the time. Fortunately, we were able to move our schedules around and do everything that we could to get her into the show a little,” Miller added.

The Testaments is set a few years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale‘s series finale. Viewers reconnect with June in the premiere of the continuation series as part of Daisy’s (Lucy Halliday) storyline in her native Toronto. The scene begins with Daisy longboarding on the street en route to a store, where she walks in greeting someone, and June is standing and observing while the Cranberries’ hit song Dream plays in the background.

No words between them were exchanged.

“Bringing back people from Handmaid’s Tale into this world to continue their story is just such a rich pleasure. This is especially true for the actors and me because you never get to go back [to a finished show] and say, well, a few years later they’re doing this. But we get to do it with a few different characters [on The Testaments]. I think it’s a pleasure, but it also rounds out the world in a way that you understand how you feel about Gilead because you have June there going, ‘Oh yeah, I used to feel that way too.’”

According to the source material, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, Agnes is the new name given to June and Luke’s (O-T Fagbenle) daughter, Hannah, in The Handmaid’s Tale. Additionally, Daisy is really Nicole, June’s youngest daughter with Nick (Max Mighella). Due to Hannah and Nicole’s age differences in the series finale of Handmaid’s, Miller confirmed Daisy is not Nicole in The Testaments series.

Daughter of June or not, Halliday shared her joy over working with Moss on the new show.

“We were so fortunate to have Elisabeth Moss, even as an exec on this show; she was so influential in the experience that we had. She’s an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to Gilead in this world, and these characters, and we really leaned on that, and we really utilized that source,” shared Halliday.

She continued, “And I think most of all, what she gave us was the reassurance that— because we’re stepping into a world that’s already loved and has done so well and been so prolific that neither one of us wanted to mess that up, or for audiences to feel uncomfortable upon our arrival— having her reassurance and her thumbs up in her space that she gave us to step into this world and these characters was brilliant.”

Tonight’s premiere featured three episodes, which will later be available to stream via Hulu. The following weeks’ episodes will be released singularly on Wednesdays.