Actress Chase Infiniti, fresh off a rapid ascent in Hollywood, has garnered an Emmy nomination for her inaugural lead role in a television series, Hulu’s dystopian drama The Testaments. The acclaimed performance has brought significant attention to both Infiniti and the highly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, prompting the young star to reflect on the unsettling parallels between the fictional world of Gilead and contemporary global realities, which she describes as her deepest fear.
A Rising Star’s Ascent
Infiniti’s Emmy nod for her portrayal of Agnes MacKenzie marks a remarkable acceleration in her career trajectory. This recognition follows a breakthrough Oscar season where she earned both Actor and Golden Globe nominations for her first lead role in a feature film, One Battle After Another. Prior to her current acclaim, Infiniti also made an impactful appearance in David E. Kelley’s Presumed Innocent, signaling her versatility across different mediums. Her latest nomination, for only her second television role ever, solidifies her status as a formidable talent on the rise, poised for further industry recognition.
The awards season spotlight also brings with it the highly anticipated red carpet events, an aspect Infiniti embraces with genuine enthusiasm. "I love that I get to wear pieces of art, literally, to all of these events, so I’m excited to have it keep going," Infiniti stated on the morning her Emmy nomination was announced. She credits her stylists, Wayman + Micah, for crafting the distinctive looks that have become a hallmark of her public appearances. "They’re the ones who create these incredible, catered looks for everything that we want to do, and they get me so well. I credit all of my fashion press to them because that is not me," she added, emphasizing her collaborative approach to celebrity styling.
Entering Gilead: The World of The Testaments
The Testaments plunges viewers back into the oppressive Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian, theocratic regime that replaced the United States in Margaret Atwood’s seminal 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. The Hulu series adapts Atwood’s 2019 sequel novel, which explores the lives of several key characters, including Agnes MacKenzie, a young woman raised within Gilead’s rigid societal structure. In this world, clothing is not merely attire but a defining status symbol, meticulously dictating social roles, reproductive eligibility, and perceived value within the patriarchal system.
When audiences are first introduced to Agnes, known as Hannah Bankole in the original series, she is adorned in distinctive purple garments. This color signifies her status as a "plum," a girl who has not yet reached menstruation and is thus considered a child, protected from the full extent of Gilead’s reproductive demands. The transition in her wardrobe becomes a powerful visual narrative; upon experiencing her first period in the second episode, Agnes’s attire shifts to green. This new color publicly marks her as eligible for marriage, a status dramatically underscored when she and her peers are paraded in a debutante-style ball before older commanders seeking young, fertile brides.
Embodying Agnes MacKenzie: A Journey of Restriction and Revelation
Infiniti described the profound impact of wearing the meticulously designed costumes for The Testaments. "It feels almost like a uniform," she noted, referring to the modest, structured dresses worn by her character and castmates. "You feel like you’re ready to go to battle, in a way. You feel the restriction that Gilead has on these girls." She elaborated on how the physical constraints of the garments immediately conveyed the psychological burden of living in Gilead. "Those initial feelings of restriction, of being overly aware of how you’re moving in these costumes, and in the world, and also the level of posture and attitude that these girls have to have — they really have to make sure that they’re the most well-presented girls in this society — you feel that from the second that you put on those costumes."
The series delves into Agnes’s traumatic loss of innocence, a pivotal moment that reshapes her understanding of Gilead. In episode two, titled “Perfect Teeth,” Agnes is sexually assaulted by Dr. Grove (Randal Edwards), the father of her best friend, Becka (Mattea Conforti), during a dental visit. This violation is compounded when Becka, who secretly harbors romantic feelings for Agnes, discovers her father also molested another young "plum," Hulda (Isolde Ardies). In a desperate act of retribution, Becka stabs her father to death and flees to Agnes’s home, bloodied and seeking an escape. Agnes, still trusting in Gilead’s promised protection, confides in her parents, believing they will help Becka. Instead, Becka is swiftly arrested by the Eyes, Gilead’s secret police, and imprisoned in a women’s detention center, a stark demonstration of the regime’s inherent cruelty and false promises.
Infiniti identified these emotional crescendos as the most challenging aspects of her role. "The tipping-point episodes were the hardest ones to do in my mind, specifically episode nine, when Agnes realizes that Gilead is not able to protect Becka," she explained. "And the moments where Agnes sees her world collapsing and crumbling in front of her, outside of what she’s been promised. Those are the harder moments because so much of the season is a gradual build toward episode 10, and I wanted to make sure that I got them right."
Critical Acclaim Amidst an Ensemble
Infiniti’s dedication to her craft evidently resonated with the Television Academy, as she secured the sole Emmy nomination for The Testaments. This singular recognition is particularly noteworthy given the series’ robust cast, which includes veteran talents such as four-time Emmy nominee Ann Dowd, who reprises her Emmy-winning role from The Handmaid’s Tale as the formidable Aunt Lydia, matriarch of the elite girls’ preparatory school. Also featured are newcomer Lucy Halliday, playing Daisy, an undercover Mayday operative, and Elisabeth Moss, the 2017 Lead Actress in a Drama Emmy winner for The Handmaid’s Tale, who returns as June Osborne, a leader in the Mayday resistance and, significantly, Agnes’s biological mother. Agnes learns this life-altering truth in The Testaments finale, a revelation that foreshadows her eventual resolve to fight against Gilead’s rigid theocracy.
Infiniti spoke highly of Moss’s influence on set, describing her as an invaluable resource. "She’s literally the encyclopedia of The Handmaid’s Tale universe, so getting to have her be there on set and be there as a producer, she made herself readily available for both me and Lucy and for the rest of the girls to ask any kind of question that we had," Infiniti shared. "That’s something that I’m eternally grateful for because getting to hear the process of living in Gilead from somebody who’s been doing it for so long in that world was such a wonderful thing to have access to."
The Terrifying Resonance of Dystopia
Despite the harsh realities of Agnes’s existence, Infiniti focused on preserving her character’s inherent goodness. Shedding the emotional weight of portraying a young girl stripped of agency in Gilead was a crucial practice for the actress, both professionally and personally. "[Agnes] has a lot of love and a lot of light in her core. That is something that even from that first script that I read of The Testaments, I gravitated toward, and I really wanted to make sure I took care of because it’s also something that you can feel within The Handmaid’s Tale," she reflected.
Beyond her performance, Infiniti articulated a profound concern about the real-world implications of the series’ themes. "I definitely have more thoughts about the world of Gilead when I see something happen that doesn’t seem, unfortunately, too far from reality," she observed. This connection to contemporary issues is what truly terrifies her. "That’s the thing that I think about the most outside of the show, and the thing that terrifies me the most is there are things that happen in the show that are happening in real life and are continuing to happen in real life, both in our own country and culture, and also globally." Her comments underscore the enduring relevance of Atwood’s dystopian vision, which often mirrors ongoing struggles for reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, and resistance against authoritarian tendencies worldwide.
Gratitude and Future Connections
Despite the critical acclaim for her realistic portrayal, Infiniti maintains a sense of disbelief and humility regarding her success. "I can’t believe it, honestly. It’s an honor in general because I know that Agnes and the character of Hannah is so beloved," she stated. "But, also, I feel so grateful because there’s no way that I could have done even half the work that I did on that show without my cast and my crew." The Emmy first-timer expressed eagerness to foster new relationships with her fellow nominees during the awards season.
"I met Carrie Coon for the first time a couple months ago, and I’m a massive fan of hers, so I’m excited to see her and be in company with other people who are nominated, like Zendaya," Infiniti shared, highlighting the camaraderie of the industry. She also mentioned Rhea Seehorn, whom she met at a Golden Globes luncheon, noting, "I’ve had the wonderful honor of getting to see her at all of these different events. So getting to see the friends that I’ve made already and also meet new ones is something that I’m really looking forward to. I feel so grateful that I can call them friends and companions because I truly do look up to them so much." Infiniti’s candid reflections illuminate not only the challenges of embodying a character from a brutal fictional world but also the deep personal connections and broader societal anxieties that resonate from The Testaments into the real world.
