INTERVIEW
Cerys Jones | 26/06/2026
From her Broadway debut as a child, Mattea Conforti, 20, is more than prepared to deliver a compelling portrayal of The Testaments Becka, the chilling new sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. Based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novels The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) and The Testaments (2019), we rejoin the series spin-off in Gilead, a future American state defined by systemic violence and misogyny, distorted theology, and constant surveillance. But this time with a new generation, the dystopian novel enrolled in one of Gilead’s preparatory academies, or “Wife schools”. Speaking from New York, Mattea is warm, grounded, and excited as she talks about her character Becka’s arc, development, and creative process, drawing parallels to the world we currently live in. As jarring as the series can be (no shock following The Handmaid’s Tale), it’s more than just despair; it’s an enduring power of hope and friendship, all centred around a world where you have to make a decision: submission or defiance,
A: The stories are so well told. I think, sadly, we're in a time and space where these stories are more relevant than ever, which is terrifying.
M: Yeah, I think so. It's such a timeless piece of material, and Margaret Atwood has always been ahead of her time.
A: Coming to your role in The Testaments, people already love The Handmaid's Tale, I think a lot of people are intrigued to see what's happened since, and look at the young girls' perspectives.
What aspects of your character did you personally connect with when you first read the script?
M: It was refreshing knowing that Becka is a character who's initially hesitant and doubtful about a world that she's not supposed to be questioning.
These girls have no outside reference. They are unaware that there are alternative solutions for their future. It was a relief to step into a character who offered a new perspective and allowed me to showcase my own confusion and doubt within the world of Gilead.
A: It’s a whole different world, isn't it? The way they don't know an alternate universe exists. Even in one of the episodes, where Daisy tries to explain sex and how things work to Shunammite, her reaction of shock shows everything about the girl's lack of knowledge, even about their own body. I don't think it's even naivety; it's the way they've been groomed.
M: Yes. There’s this scene where Aunt Vidala, who trains the girls to be eventual wives, is having a copulation class. It's a very shallow explanation of what happens and what women need to be aware of in their bodies. It shows how controlled their education is and how skewed it all is in favour of the men in Gilead.
It was difficult to film those scenes, knowing this is so different to how we understand it in real life, but that is the way that Gilead works, unfortunately.
A: When taking on a role like this, in a dystopian world that is so hard-hitting, how do you separate from the character and the universe you're immersing yourself in?
M: Obviously, it's super essential to be aware of the material that we are placed with and the material that our characters are responsible for conveying to our audiences.
But you also have to remember that, at the end of the day, you're doing your job, and this is acting. We are dramatising a ton of themes that are so prevalent in our world today, but you have to separate the two so that you're not all immersed in the world of Gilead outside of the set. The girls and I were super good about that. Once they’ve called cut, we would resume joking and make the set feel a light-hearted, playful environment. We would hang out outside of the set, go to restaurants, and do everything we normally would if we weren't filming.
A: It is interesting, even the friendships in the series itself are so important for the girls, it's almost all they have.
M: It's interesting because Gilead is oppressive and limiting in the relationships they allow to flourish. But these women are still able to find such strong friendships with each other. It just shows the power of friendship and resilience. These young women show us that finding strength in each other allows them to find strength within themselves.
There is also an underlying sense of hope that these girls carry throughout the entire season. Even when I'm watching the episodes back, I'm rooting for them. I want them to win, and I'm confident that they will.
A: My mother always said this to me when I was younger. I'd say, "Oh, I wish that I had a crystal ball”, and she'd be like, "But if you have a crystal ball, then you don't have hope, and if you don't have hope, then what do you have?”
M: That is so true. If you know everything that's going to happen, there’s nothing to strive for, nothing to shoot for. And these girls find so much strength in each other. If they had a crystal ball, then they probably wouldn't.
A: Did you find there were particular scenes or moments that challenged you emotionally and creatively?
M: I think any of the assemblies, the sacrifice scenes, or punishment circles were some of the toughest ones to film, because of how physically and emotionally taxing they were.
But the rituals in these scenes serve as outlets for the girls to relieve any internal emotions or discomfort. So there was a lot of storytelling there in these little moments, but we also had to be very physically and emotionally involved, too.
There's a scene where a guy has his arm amputated in an assembly. That was a hard day on set. It was a very long shoot. Aidan, who played the guy who got his hand chopped off, was such a trooper, but he had about 300 girls screaming at the top of their lungs for hours at him. It was intense. We all got really into it.
A: I guess you have to, to make it realistic.
M: Yeah. I wanted to be leaving the set feeling exhausted. I wanted to leave feeling like I gave it my all. I was so blessed to be given this opportunity that I wanted to do it justice in that way, and I never wanted to leave the set wondering if I should have done something differently or if I could have given this more effort.
Luckily, I was surrounded by my castmates, a crew, and a creative team who were all doing the same. Everyone was giving hundred-and-ten percent. It was such a motivating group of individuals to be around every day.
A: How do you prepare before a scene?
M: Before we would start filming a scene, we would block through the scene and meet with the director to talk through what each girl is feeling, because each character has their own story to tell.
No one ever feels the same in a group scene together. For example, Becka may be upset because Agnes is getting closer to Daisy; meanwhile, Shunammite could be upset because she hasn't gotten her period yet. There are a ton of different individual moments that need to be showcased when we can't verbalise them. We had heaps of conversations and a lot of repetition to get this right.
A: Although they are being groomed to be obedient, there is this perseverance in these strong-willed young women. They're taught and brought up to be anything but that, but it still remains in them. They are still opinionates and they want to lean into that, which is counter-cultural in Gilead, but natural on a human level.
M: The beauty of this show is that, despite existing within the oppressive regime of Gilead, these are just young adolescent girls who are experiencing everything that a regular teenager does: friend groups changing, jealousy, crushes, questioning themselves, questioning their environment. I drew so many connections from my upbringing and my childhood to these girls. They're also navigating their bodies changing and going through puberty. It's this powerful coming-of-age story hidden beneath these horrible notes about what Gilead enforces. It's interesting that, stripping all of that away, they are just this group of young women figuring out who they are and experiencing everything we would perceive as normal for teenage girls.
A: Yeah, it hits home, the way they're gas-lit and manipulated into thinking everything they are experiencing is their fault. The guilt, blame and victim-shaming the show depicts are sadly relatable for young girls in the real world.
M: It is what these young women are taught. Unfortunately, it's done so in such a manipulative way, whether that's through religion, sexual identity, or gender. While they are perceived as the most godly and well-respected girls, they bear a lot of responsibility for carrying that narrative forward and for being the idolised figures of Gilead, which, again, are controlled by the commanders.
We see manipulation at play in the first episode, when the guy has his hand cut off. These girls are screaming at him, but Aunt Estee says, "Don't relish in your envy, don't relish in your anger, because that's not what godly girls do.” They’re still being controlled; they're never having a moment of freedom without either being watched or being told “no” in some capacity.
I think as a woman, I can draw so many similarities. We even see this within social media trends: “wear this, don't wear this, this is the right bag to buy right now”, or “this is what's trending, this is what you shouldn't be doing in the summer, this is where you should go on vacation”.
There are so many pressures as a woman, so many connections that I'm drawing from simple things that I would have never thought of in the same light as what I'm dealing with in the show.
A: I'm not surprised. Did you find that your understanding of your character changed or progressed as you connected to her and went through the acting process?
M: At first, we had established that Becka was initially stepping into the world attracted romantically to Agnes, and that was what differentiated her as a character. But getting to know Becka, I realised there is more to her, especially how strong she is.
For instance, I remember when I first read Episode Nine, I was like, “Becka did what? Are you kidding me?” As an actor, I was excited to film that scene, which has so many elements. It's Becka doing what she thinks is the right thing to do in Gilead, what the aunts have been preaching to her and teaching her. It’s also her protecting Agnes. There are so many elements of validation that Becka feels here.
Getting to know her character has been such an amazing journey, and it has made me excited to see what will happen to her in Season Two.
A: I think in every episode there's something surprising. Just when you think you can’t be surprised by Gilead and all the characters, the story catches you off guard.
M: The creative team, the crew, everyone on set would always say, “Expect the unexpected with Gilead”.
There are so many different avenues that the characters could take, which makes it even harder to guess what's going to happen next. In Episode Nine, instead of killing her adoptive father, Becka could have killed Daisy, or she could have even run away.
But the reason she goes back to Agnes's house is that she needs her to know that she did this for her. Like when a dog is playing fetch with their owner. It’s that reciprocal act of giving someone something that you think they would enjoy. In Gilead, you think that if you're showing somebody that you did this to a man who committed this heinous act, they'll praise you, worship you, because you're enacting Gilead law, you're doing the right thing, you're doing what you think God is telling you to do. You are the most divine version of yourself in that moment, but that's not the way that it turns out for Becka.
A: What advice would you have for Becka? What advice do you think she would have for you?
M: My advice for Becka is to learn to accept who you are, to lean into and explore that. Obviously, that's a lot easier said than done. Becka is struggling so much with her own identity and her sexuality. I would want her to know she is an amazing person, she's so strong, and she's so brave. I would want her to know that there's a community and a safe space for her.
I think Becka would advise me to stop talking so much. She's a bit quieter in her everyday life, and she doesn't necessarily verbalise everything that she's thinking. I talk so much, and once you get me talking, I can't stop yapping. I think she would say, “We don't have to talk all the time.”
She would probably also advise me not to get married. I think she would say, “Don’t get married, get some besties, have some fun.”
The Testaments is available to stream on Hulu and Disney +.