When The Testaments<\/em> star Lucy Halliday watched the pilot episode for the first time, the 22-year-old actor was sitting elbow to elbow with The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em> creator<\/a> herself. \u201cI remember being so excited. And then, the second the opening credits came up, I just went, \u2018Oh, no<\/em>,\u2019\u201d she tells Bustle over Zoom from her sunny London flat. \u201cIt suddenly dawned on me that this was the <\/em>Margaret Atwood.\u201d <\/p>\n Luckily, Atwood loved the episode, much to the relief of Halliday, who has been a fan of the award-winning author since childhood. In Hulu\u2019s The Testaments,<\/em> set 15 years after The<\/em> Handmaid\u2019s Tale,<\/em> the actor plays Daisy, a Canadian teenage rebel, alongside Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) and Agnes (Chase Infiniti), as they try to dismantle the disintegrating Gilead from within. <\/p>\n \u201cI really admire [Daisy\u2019s] tenacity and fire, and she\u2019s very sharp-witted, and she knows what she wants, and that really drew me to her,\u201d Halliday says. \u201cI do think Daisy\u2019s cooler than me.\u201d<\/p>\n Although she grew up performing in youth theater in her hometown of Paisley, just outside of Glasgow, Scotland, Halliday didn\u2019t always consider acting her top priority. She was studying medicine at the University of Glasgow while secretly \u201ckicking [herself]\u201d for not giving acting a real shot. That is, until she serendipitously came across a casting call for the 2022 indie film Blue Jean<\/em><\/a> <\/em>on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cThey wrote a very detailed description of Lois, and I didn\u2019t match any of it, but I sent a very ballsy email to the casting director being like, \u2018I am perfect,\u2019\u201d she recalls. \u201cI\u2019ve since been told no one believed me, but they let me audition. So I taped that day, did a chemistry read the next week, and then the week after we were filming.\u201d<\/p>\n Halliday\u2019s performance as Lois, a lesbian teenager who threatens to out her closeted teacher, earned her a Scottish BAFTA<\/a> and put her on the map, leading to a role in James McAvoy\u2019s California Schemin\u2019<\/em><\/a> and eventually to Toronto, Canada, where she filmed The Testaments<\/em>.<\/p>\n There, she instantly built a rapport with her co-star Infiniti, who lived just a 15-minute walk away. While Halliday worked hard to shed her warm Scottish lilt for Daisy\u2019s American accent, she says Infiniti did her best to sabotage her.<\/p>\n \u201cThe phrase I found the hardest to say was \u2018Pearl Girl,\u2019 specifically, \u2018proper Pearl Girl.\u2019 And I had to say that a lot, unfortunately, because I am<\/em> a Pearl Girl,\u201d she says, referring to the missionary group recruiting others to come to Gilead, whom Daisy uses to gain access to the country under false pretenses. \u201cWhenever I had to say it, Chase would be in my ear, trying to do a Scottish accent. I was like, \u2018You are setting me up for failure here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n If anything, The Testaments<\/em> sets up Halliday with a world of opportunities. Though she misses her favorite indie cinema, The Glasgow Film Theatre, she is dreaming of working on London\u2019s West End, and she\u2019s not taking anything off the table.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if anyone would want to hear me do musicals. I think I could do the dancing bit. I\u2019m not tone deaf, but I\u2019m not Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried,\u201d she says, \u201cSo, I\u2019ll start [with a] play and see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n Learn more about Halliday in the Bustle Booth questionnaire below.<\/p>\n Iced latte.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve maxed out the limit. I love keeping them from the places I\u2019ve been. Ranging from Buenos Aires to Tobermory to Copenhagen to Montreal.<\/p>\n Virgo.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ll be back\u201d (most successfully used when leaving any room for literally any amount of time).<\/p>\n Phineas and Ferb<\/em> (only got to watch at my grandparents\u2019 house).<\/p>\n I\u2019ve watched Sentimental Value<\/em> like six times.<\/p>\n Saoirse Ronan (a Celtic queen).<\/p>\n The Traitors.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMagic\u201d by B.o.B.<\/p>\n My mum, but she\u2019s always been it.<\/p>\n I just want to be a good guy.<\/p>\n![\"Chase](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/getty\/2026\/4\/8\/319fd1f5\/london-england-march-23.jpg?w=414&h=276&fit=crop&crop=faces&dpr=2\")
<\/div>\n![\"Lucy](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/getty\/2026\/3\/30\/5c412d2b\/glasgow-scotland-march-08.jpg?w=414&h=621&fit=crop&crop=faces&dpr=2\")
<\/div>\nIn The Bustle Booth<\/h2>\n
What\u2019s your coffee order?<\/h4>\n
What are the saved weather locations on your phone?<\/h4>\n
What\u2019s your sign?<\/h4>\n
Favorite overused movie quote?<\/h4>\n
What was your favorite cartoon as a kid?<\/h4>\n
![\"Lucy](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/getty\/2026\/4\/8\/db1a1906\/los-angeles-california-march.jpg?w=414&h=621&fit=crop&crop=faces&dpr=2\")
<\/div>\nWhat\u2019s one movie or TV show you’re currently obsessed with?<\/h4>\n
Who is your celeb idol?<\/h4>\n
If you had to be on a reality TV show, what would it be?<\/h4>\n
Go-to karaoke song?<\/h4>\n
What\u2019s something that\u2019s inspiring you lately?<\/h4>\n
What is something you would want people to say about you?<\/h4>\n