Lucy Halliday, a 22-year-old Scotland native making her TV debut, plays Daisy in “The Testaments,” where she goes into Gilead on a covert mission—watching punishments, hiding her true self, and slowly shifting from prejudice to empathy as the season builds tow
The first time Lucy Halliday walks into Daisy’s world, it isn’t with confidence—it’s with calculation. Daisy is dropped into Gilead under the guise of a convert on a clandestine mission to free other girls from tyranny. Everything around her is designed to punish defiance. and Halliday leans hard into what that does to a person: the constant pressure to perform. to conceal. and to keep moving before fear gets the better of her.
Halliday. 22. steps into the “The Handmaid’s Tale” universe as she makes what she calls a major jump in her career. She’s also a self-described Atwood fanatic from Scotland, and being part of an Atwood adaptation is personal. “Getting to be a part of anything that has been touched by Margaret Atwood is a joy,” she told TheWrap. “I’ve always been in awe of her work, and to get to enter her universe is extraordinary.”.
Her connection to Atwood goes back years. When she was about 12, Halliday borrowed 2005’s “The Penelopiad” from her older brother. When “The Testaments” was released in 2019. a friend brought a copy to school so Halliday and her friend could read together at lunch. She liked acting then, but at 17 she put it on hold to pursue medical school. “I regretted my choice,” she said.
A year later, the pivot paid off. Halliday landed a role in Georgia Oakley’s 2022 British indie “Blue Jean,” which opened the door to more opportunities. Last year. she appeared in fellow Scottish actor James McAvoy’s directorial debut. “California Schemin’.” Now she’s diving into “The Testaments. ” and some of her earliest scenes place her opposite Elisabeth Moss—turning Daisy’s story into a passing-of-the-torch moment from June Osborne. who escaped from Gilead. to a young woman willingly entering it.
Halliday describes those early scenes as sparring in motion. “They were quite often sparring scenes,” she said. “It’s Daisy and June going back and forth. and we were trying to create a specific dynamic in those scenes. I’m getting to work with Elisabeth Moss. who is incredible and I’ve watched growing up on TV and I’ve seen her in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ That is quite daunting as an actor.”.
In the show’s first episode. Daisy doesn’t just observe Gilead’s brutality—she has to survive it while gathering information. She is a spy, a term Daisy likes but her handlers do not. She’s bursting with what she knows. yet constantly trying to hide key parts of herself as she pretends to be drawn to Gilead’s culture.
“Every single thing that she’s saying is calculated,” the actress explained. “She is constantly. actively putting on a front and trying to integrate with these people and not appear out of place. Having that level of fear in her was quite interesting to play because I was just constantly thinking. What is Daisy trying to hide in this moment. and what is she trying to find out?. Her true self can be volatile and sarcastic, so trying to keep that down was quite fun.”.
Daisy’s path through Gilead puts her under the shadow of Aunt Lydia. Ann Dowd plays the stern namesake who runs the Aunt Lydia School. where young girls are trained to become submissive wives of powerful men—often much older. Daisy finds a friend in Agnes, played by “One Battle After Another” breakout Chase Infiniti. The bond doesn’t erase the threat. but it changes what Daisy can see when the indoctrination tries to close every door.
Halliday says Daisy’s first instinct is shaped by the wrong assumptions. “Daisy’s fatal flaw is that she comes into Gilead with very strong preconceived notions of who she believes these girls are. ” Halliday said. “As far as she’s concerned, they’re lesser than her. I think that emulates a lot of how we, as a society, view other people.”.
Over the season, those ideas shift. Halliday points to Daisy’s growing connection with her peers—something she also felt in the way she bonded with co-stars. Even as the indoctrination runs deep, Daisy eventually finds empathy and strength in Gilead’s young citizens. Halliday describes it as a turn that could help enable revolution.
“Daisy is weighing the risk to herself against the benefit to these girls,” she said. “One aspect that Daisy has recognized is that what these girls lack is not intelligence but rather information. If she can provide them with information. then they are more than capable of achieving their own takedown against this regime.”.
The stakes feel even higher because “The Testaments” is already moving forward. Hulu has renewed the series for a second season, and Halliday is ready to keep Daisy fighting. “Raising awareness against the wrongdoings that we participate in in society. or about the oppression of groups of people. is such a privilege. ” she shared. “I’m having the opportunity to publicly demonstrate why we need to take better care of each other. why we need to stand up for each other more. why we need to use whatever position we have to highlight wrongdoings. In a way, this show is my position.”.
Lucy Halliday The Testaments Hulu The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood Daisy Elisabeth Moss Ann Dowd Chase Infiniti Daisy and June Aunt Lydia School Gilead
Wait so Daisy is like undercover the whole time? I didn’t even realize it was a secret mission thing. Sounds wild.
Margaret Atwood is always doing the most lol. Also medical school?? She really said “nah” to science. Hopefully they don’t ruin the book vibe.
I think the article is kinda saying Daisy gets punished for being “prejudiced” or whatever?? Like fear makes her turn into a good person. But isn’t Gilead already just the bad guys so why the moral shift?
Lucy Halliday sounds familiar… was she in that thing with Georgia Oakley? I read “Penelopiad” in college and it was heavy, so if she’s an Atwood fanatic that’s probably why she can act it. Also “Gilead” just gives me anxiety every time I hear it.