Go behind the scenes of ‘The Testaments’ with Birva Pandya. We talk about the surreal sets, Gilead’s uniforms, and the magic of teenage girlhood.
The world of Margaret Atwood’s Gilead is expanding with the highly anticipated premiere of The Testaments on Hulu. Set fifteen years after the harrowing events of The Handmaid’s Tale, this spin-off series, created by Bruce Miller, offers a fresh and chilling perspective on the totalitarian regime. Unlike the original series, which focused on the immediate fallout of the revolution, The Testaments explores the system as seen through the eyes of a new generation.
Birva Pandya, a talented Indian-Canadian actress who is quickly becoming a rising star in Hollywood, stars as Miriam, a young woman navigating the rigid expectations of Gilead’s elite, delivering a performance that captures both the innocence and the budding resilience of youth trapped in a suffocating world.
Mama’s Geeky sat down with Birva Pandya to discuss what it was like to step onto the massive sets of Gilead for the first time. We talked about the surreal experience of wearing the iconic uniforms and how those costumes helped her inhabit the headspace of a girl on the cusp of womanhood. Birva also shared heartwarming stories about the off-screen bond she formed with her castmates – including ice cream truck breaks – and what it was like working alongside Oscar-winner Chase Infiniti.
Birva Pandya On Joining Such An Iconic World
Tessa Smith: How exciting was it for you to join this world, and what can you tell us about your character, Miriam?
Birva Pandya: I have been such a huge fan of The Handmaid’s Tale. I studied the novel in high school. I watched a bit of the show as well. So I definitely knew just how prevalent it was, not just for like Canada, but also like globally. I play Miriam, who is one of the plums. She is on the cusp of womanhood and Gilead. And she kind of struggles with this idea of marriage and her one true purpose, which is to be a wife and to marry a commander. When that kind of fails, like right in front of her and starts to deconstruct, she really struggles and doesn’t know who to turn to, except for her friends in this world.
Tessa Smith: The trailer shows such a distinct uniformity. What was it like wearing those specific uniforms for 12 hours a day?
Birva Pandya: The costumes were such a big part of the story, but also just such a big part of like the characters. We have a big range of uniforms that ranges from like the Pearl Girls and then the plums and then the pink. There was a lot more diversity in terms of what those uniforms look like, like the colors. But you start to realize that it is like a suffocating theme, like over and over again. Especially when you first get into costume and then you get on set and you’re in that uniform for like 12 plus hours a day, you really start to feel it.
Tessa Smith: Did the hair, makeup, and costumes help you get into the mindset of a younger, more innocent character?
Birva Pandya: I think that was something that surprised me was just how much they age you down. I literally looked in the mirror and I was like, I look like 13. I think that that’s so needed for this story is to show just like how young these girls are when they’re going through stuff like this. It definitely affects the cadence of the way that you speak, the way that you move. When all the puzzle pieces kind of fit, you really do act in accordance to just how young you’re supposed to be.
Tessa Smith: Gilead is a dark place. How did you decompress and snap out of it once the cameras stopped rolling?
Birva Pandya: I got really lucky because this cast and crew, everybody was just so wonderful to work with and to be a part of. And I think that that makes things really easy to kind of just like snap out of it, because I feel like I really made a friend with everybody. Something that I really tried to prioritize while we were filming is to have as consistent of a sleep schedule as I could. I would just like go home and like turn off my phone and just like pass out.
Tessa Smith: You mentioned the friendships on set. Are there any specific moments with your castmates that stand out?
Birva Pandya: I think it was just like ordinary moments every day. Like I think just sitting in the green room, like so many of us were like huge readers. And so I feel like we kind of had like an out-of-routine book club happening. I remember there was one day where there was like an ice cream truck and like me and Hattie like went out to get ice cream like five times during one scene and we just ate so much ice cream. At the end of the day, they’re just teenage girls. And you see through their friendship and that aspect that that theme of like girlhood, too.
Tessa Smith: What was the dynamic like working with Chase Infiniti, especially coming off her recent success?
Birva Pandya: Chase is such an extraordinary person. She is incredibly talented, so driven. And I think she was such like a leader on set, too. She has such like a comforting energy and I think like such a kindness to her that she brings to all of her characters. And I think that you really can see that in Agnes, too.
Tessa Smith: For fans of the original series, what would you say sets The Testaments apart?
Birva Pandya: I think that the younger audiences or even just people that haven’t seen The Handmaid’s Tale, they’re really going to appreciate kind of the dark comedic elements to the show, because there is some like humor and levity to I think every episode. It almost felt nostalgic in a way, too, because it brought me back to the years when I was like a teenager. It’s such a universal experience. While The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments are both like you can draw parallels to the darker themes, you can for sure also draw parallels to some of the lightheartedness stuff and the levity of the situation.
For more on the world of Gilead and behind-the-scenes stories, watch the full video interview with Birva Pandya.
The Testaments has now premiered on Hulu.
