Context:

The interview with Lucy Halliday, who plays Daisy in The Testaments, centers on Episode 9, where Daisy confronts the abuses within Gilead and seizes a dangerous chance to expose a dentist’s crimes to protect her fellow girls. It highlights Daisy’s rite of passage from Pearl Girl to Plum, the emotional stakes of risking herself, and her evolving view of June and the other girls. Halliday also discusses working with Elisabeth Moss, the bond with Chase Infiniti (Agnes), and how music helps Daisy navigate the line between Toronto life and Gilead. The piece underscores the season’s themes of oppression, protection, and personal courage, with the series available on Hulu and a note on the emotional cost of filming heavy material.

Dive Deeper:

• Episode 9 centers on Daisy announcing her period and transitioning into a Plum, a shift that compels her to visit the dentist, an act that unleashes further horrors faced by the girls. Her choice to confront Dr. Grove is motivated by a protective impulse for friends who lack others to stand up for them, despite the personal danger.

• Halliday emphasizes the persistent horror of Gilead: the girls are deemed precious yet denied autonomy, highlighting the contradiction between value and rights. Daisy’s shock deepens as the season reveals the scope of oppression and the fragile agency of the girls.

• Daisy’s daily drive to act comes from witnessing systemic wrongs while adults fail to intervene, revealing her instinct to shield others. Her decision to act is portrayed as a difficult, solitary burden, driven by a sense of moral duty rather than certainty of outcome.

• Elisabeth Moss’s mentorship is described as magical and reassuring. Moss provides direct, practical guidance, giving Daisy’s cast confidence and a sense of validation as they step into a world beloved by fans, helping Halliday feel she’s not compromising the character’s integrity.

• The Daisy–June dynamic is a throughline: June serves as a maternal anchor for Daisy, while Daisy grows to see June and the other girls as layered, complex individuals rather than flat symbols. The relationship with Chase Infiniti (Agnes) also shapes Daisy’s development and on-screen chemistry.

• Chase Infiniti and Halliday formed an instant rapport, allowing for creative risk-taking in scenes where Daisy and Agnes clash. Their real-life friendship translates into more nuanced performances, particularly in conflict-driven moments like Episode 2’s intense exchange.

• Filming the heavier sequences required a supportive, lighthearted set environment; the cast and crew’s camaraderie helped performers separate fiction from reality. The actors acknowledge the privilege of telling a story with resonance for real-world issues, despite the emotional weight of the material.