The Testaments star Lucy Halliday was meant to play Daisy. Growing up, the Scottish actor was obsessed with the Margaret Atwood classic The Handmaid Tale’s and vividly remembers the release of the sequel novel, The Testaments, back in 2018. “My friend brought it into school, and we read it then and there,” recalled Halliday. “I fell in love with Daisy then, and I have continued to love her.”

On both the page and the screen, Daisy remains fundamentally the same. After the murder of her adopted parents when she’s 16 years old, Daisy is recruited by the resistance—an organization called Mayday—to infiltrate Gilead and gather information to help bring down the fascist regime. The biggest change to her character in the television adaptation is that Daisy is not Baby Nicole—the daughter of June Osborne (played in the series by Elisabeth Moss) who was smuggled out of Gilead and into Canada as a baby. Instead, Daisy is the daughter of an unidentified Handmaid.

“We were quite early on in filming when [showrunner] Bruce Miller told me that Daisy would not be June’s daughter,” said Halliday. “It was definitely a stab in the chest, but very quickly I realized that it doesn’t change anything about Daisy or her journey.” In the series, June recruits Daisy to join Mayday’s efforts to take down Gilead. “June is still very much a mother figure to Daisy, regardless of any sort of biology,” said Halliday. Halliday also remarked on what a “privilege” it was to work so closely with Moss. “In the series, June is passing the baton to Daisy. In reality, Elisabeth passed that baton to me and to Chase [Infiniti] and all the rest of the cast.”

Halliday stopped by the Decider studio to discuss the series, reveal how being around the women of Gilead changes Daisy, and share what it was like to work with The Handmaid Tale’s OG stars Moss and Amanda Brugel.

DECIDER: I know you were a fan of Margaret Atwood’s novels growing up. How does it feel to be part of her television universe now?

LUCY HALLIDAY: I was such a Margaret Atwood fan growing up. I still am. To be a part of that Atwood world and bring it to life on screen is truly a privilege. I remember when The Testaments came out. My friend brought the book into school, and we read it then and there. I fell in love with Daisy then, and I have continued to love her. The fact that I get to be the person who puts a face to her is truly wonderful. I’m so happy to be here.

In the novel, Daisy is Baby Nicole, June’s daughter that was conceived while she was a Handmaid. In the series, Bruce Miller has confirmed that Daisy is not Baby Nicole. How did you feel about that change?

I didn’t know until after I got the job. We were quite early on in filming when Bruce Miller told me that Daisy would not be June’s daughter. It was definitely a stab in the chest, but very quickly I realized that it doesn’t change anything about Daisy or her journey. The Daisy that exists on the page in Margaret Atwood’s book is very much the Daisy that we see on screen. Her energy remains the same, her storyline remains the same, and her relationships remains the same.

June is still very much a mother figure to Daisy, regardless of any sort of biology. That relationship with June influences Daisy’s subsequent relationship with Agnes. Agnes is Daisy sister through and through. It doesn’t matter that they don’t share DNA. It’s worth remembering that in Gilead, many of these individuals are not biologically related to each other. These families have been pieced together as mosaics. In many ways, this new iteration of Daisy is still very much part of a family with June and with Agnes.

Daisy is the only character in The Testaments so far who has interacted with June. What was it like to have Elisabeth Moss shepherd Daisy’s intro to Mayday?

Working with Elisabeth Moss is nothing short of a privilege. She is the embodiment of The Handmaid’s Tale. I was completely in awe during those days on set with her, especially the very early days. My first week of filming was Elisabeth Moss week. It was just Elisabeth and I sparring in these big scenes. It was a baptism by fire, and I learned a lot from her.

I really admired the way she holds herself on set. I appreciated the knowledge that she possesses and how she maneuvers through the world that is Gilead. That’s something that definitely stayed with me for the duration of filming. Having June introduce Daisy to this world was lovely because it was very much the passing of the baton. In the series, June is passing the baton to Daisy. In reality, Elisabeth passed that baton to me and to Chase and all the rest of the cast.

You also got to work with Amanda Brugel, who reprises her role as Rita in The Testaments. Were you as happy as I was to learn that Rita is going to culinary school?

I was thrilled that Rita is in culinary school. That scene with Amanda was really fun to film because those noodles were really, really tasty. It’s lovely to be able to see Rita’s transition to the outside world. I’m sure everybody who watched the The Handmaid’s Tale will also enjoy that moment. It’s wonderful to see that Rita has managed to make a life for herself beyond the world of Gilead.

Rita also shares some wisdom with Daisy regarding her infiltration into the Aunt Lydia School: “Don’t ever underestimate those girls. If you go in there to thinking you are smarter than them, you will die.” Does Daisy realize then how good that advice is ?

I don’t think she does in that moment. At that point, she’s still very much consumed by her preconceived notions about these girls. She very much sees them as being less than herself. However, as the season progresses, that idea completely disappears from Daisy’s mind. She realizes that these girls are so much more than she realized. They are strong and very capable individuals. The only thing that they lack is the access to knowledge that Daisy can provide. She wants to share information with these girls, to teach them what she can because ultimately, knowledge is power.

Daisy really becomes a safe space for a lot of the Plums and the Greens. Is it hard for Daisy to balance Mayday’s mission with her budding connection with the women of Gilead?

For sure. Daisy comes in with a very strong idea of what she’s there for and what the end goal is. The longer she spends in Gilead, the more that objective shifts within her. She develops such a love and affection for the women of Gilead that she wants to protect them, and that often that goes against what Mayday is wanting Daisy to do. We do see Daisy grapple with that and come to the conclusion that she is on her own. She can’t turn to Mayday, and she can’t turn to Gilead. She understands that she needs to look out for these girls and herself in her own way.

Garth says something to Daisy in last week’s episode that stood out: “I want to destroy Gilead. What do you want, Daisy?” Has she truly thought about that before?

Ultimately, Daisy is a teenager. Her decision to act as an undercover agent in Gilead probably was rather rash. She was on a revenge mission. She was very much fueled by the circumstances of her parents’ deaths. She doesn’t understand the full extent of the environment that she’s thrusting herself into.

So far, we’ve seen Daisy trying to figure out what she wants and what is the right thing to do. Do those two objectives align? Is Mayday sincere in the mission or is something else afoot? I think by the end of the season, she will know what she wants.

It seems that she finds her purpose when Agnes reveals that she and Hulda have both been sexually assaulted by Dr. Grove. How does this revelation change Daisy going forward?

It’s at that point that Daisy’s friendship and love for these girls really take hold. She needs to stick up for them. She knows that she cannot be a bystander. She cannot sit silently as Mayday wants her to. Daisy doesn’t have anyone that she can turn to for help , but she makes decisions that she can live with. Whether they are the right decisions or the most beneficial decisions remains to be seen.

In this week’s episode, Daisy moves up from Pearl girl to Plum after revealing she’s gotten her period. How does this status change affect her?

Ooh, it’s not something that she thinks about at the time. I think any sort of status change is very much still to come. She just wanted an opportunity to protect those that she cares about.

Daisy is instrumental in exposing Dr. Grove for the monster he is. Will there be consequences for her actions—no matter how just they were?

That’s still to be determined. Gilead has a way of bringing consequences in very unsuspecting ways. I don’t think Daisy knows whether there will be repercussions for her actions. Sometimes in Gilead, repercussions can take a long time to come into effect. I truly don’t know.

The season finale of The Testaments drops next Wednesday, March 27, on Hulu