OF SERVICE

BRAD ALEXANDER MAY STILL BE NEW TO THE INDUSTRY, BUT THERE’S ALREADY AN UNMISTAKABLE SENSE OF GRAVITY TO HIS SCREEN PRESENCE. IN THE TESTAMENTS – THE SEQUEL SERIES TO THE HANDMAID’S TALE – THE SOUTH LONDON ACTOR STEPS INTO THE MORALLY FRACTURED WORLD OF GILEAD AS GARTH. AS A CHARACTER CAUGHT BETWEEN PRIVILEGE, REBELLION, AND UNCERTAINTY, ALEXANDER’S PERFORMANCE IS BUILT ON TENSION AND RESTRAINT. OFF-SCREEN, HE IS DISARMINGLY THOUGHTFUL: QUICK TO PRAISE THE WOMEN AT THE CENTRE OF THE STORY, FASCINATED BY THE AMBIGUITY OF HIS CHARACTER, AND DEEPLY AWARE OF THE CULTURAL RESONANCE SURROUNDING MARGARET ATWOOD’S UNIVERSE. AS THE TESTAMENTS EXPANDS ONE OF TELEVISION’S MOST HAUNTING DYSTOPIAN WORLDS, ALEXANDER EMERGES AS ONE OF ITS MOST INTRIGUING NEW FACES.

Left Full look **Celine Homme**
Right Full look **Wooyoungmi**

Were you a fan of The Handmaid’s Tale before becoming part of this project? What spoke to you most about this world?

I definitely found it compelling. I was a fan of The Handmaid’s Tale TV series when it was coming out. I actually hadn’t read either The Handmaid’s Tale or The Testaments before I got the role, so the first thing I did was pick up both books and read them.

I’m a big fan of dystopian fiction in general. I love the weight and authority of it all — the intensity, the incredibly high dramatic stakes. So I was really excited to get involved in this world. At the same time, it was intimidating. It’s such an established universe with real literary weight behind it, so it felt like as much of a responsibility as it did a joy.

What surprised you most when you finally saw the finished show?

The visual side of it, definitely. While we were shooting, I could already tell the production value was incredibly high and that there was a real obsession with detail and visual intrigue. But once you add the music, the sound design, the needle drops, the costumes — and really see the scale of it all — it becomes astonishing.

Left Full look **Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello**
Right Jacket, shirt, tie and pants **Valentino**, shoes **Manolo Blahnik**

What was the casting process like?

The casting call actually came to me under a code name — “Dollhouse” — so I didn’t even know it was connected to The Handmaid’s Tale. I was kind of going in blind. The audition scenes were mostly smaller interactions with Agnes, including the scene coming back from the ball with Commander Mackenzie. Even without knowing the full context, I could feel the authority in the world and the pressure these characters were under. You could tell the stakes were high.

In a way, not knowing helped me. I wasn’t constrained by trying to fit into an existing thing. I just picked up the material and approached it honestly. Then, less than two weeks later, I was moving to Canada for six months to shoot the show.

You mentioned online that the ball episode was one of your favourites. Why did that episode stand out for you?

Partly selfish reasons, because there’s a lot of Garth development in that episode. But beyond that, it’s the point where everything really starts flowering. The first few episodes plant seeds, and then suddenly you see all these characters properly come alive.

There’s a lot of scale to it — the debutante ball, the sense of ceremony, the romance and coming-of-age elements mixed into this deeply unsettling environment. That contrast is what makes it so effective. You want these teenagers to experience joy and romance and excitement, but then you remember the structure surrounding them and what the stakes actually are. You see the commanders looming over everything. It’s a really propulsive episode. After episode five, you genuinely feel things moving.

Left Full look **Celine Homme**
Right Full look **Maison Margiela**

There’s also a lingering creepiness to it all that becomes much more explicit there.

Definitely. It doesn’t leave you feeling comfortable — but that’s why it works so well.

Garth operates like a double agent in the series. How did you approach that ambiguity?

For me, it was important not to lock down complete certainty about who he is. On the surface, his morals seem to be in the right place, but Garth has also grown up with the expectation that he’ll eventually become a Commander and take his place in this prestigious authoritarian structure. So, he’s exposed to a lot of things that could pull him in the wrong direction. I found a lot of joy in that ambiguity. I never fully decided, even for myself, which direction he was ultimately leaning. What’s clear is that he’s had a sincere moral awakening, and a lot of that comes through his exposure to these chaotic young women in his life. But I liked keeping that tension alive.

Was there a scene you were especially nervous to shoot?

The dancing scenes were intimidating. I’m not a dancer by trade, as you can probably tell. [Laughs] There’s one scene later on involving choreography, and I had maybe three and a half minutes to learn it because I hadn’t done the rehearsal training the girls had done. I remember walking in while Chase [Infiniti] was finishing with the choreographer and basically asking, “Can I get a quick practice session?” Meanwhile, everyone’s saying, “We need to shoot, let’s go.” So that was stressful. But honestly, I was nervous every day — in the best possible way. The kind of nerves that motivate you rather than suppress you.

Left Full look **Paul Smith**
Right Jacket, pants and scarf **Dries Van Noten**, shoes **Jimmy Choo**

You mentioned Chase. What was it like working with her?

It was great. When we first met, we were actually in pretty similar positions career-wise. I think this was my fourth job and maybe her third, so there was a shared sense of naivety about the whole experience.

Were there aspects of Garth you wish you’d had more time to explore?

Honestly, I think the most interesting parts of Garth’s life happened before the events of the show. That said, it’s important to remember this story fundamentally isn’t about Garth. It’s about young women and girls and their development. Garth is ultimately ancillary to that. But personally, I do find it fascinating to imagine how someone who grew up entirely inside Gilead arrives at the realisation that the whole system is morally wrong. That journey would be interesting to explore. At the same time, I’m grateful for the ambiguity and mystery surrounding him. I think that’s part of his power as a character.

Left Full look **Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello**
Right Full look **Louis Vuitton**

The series feels especially timely given the current political climate. How conscious was that while making it

You can see fragments of this kind of authoritarianism all over the world right now. Margaret Atwood very deliberately pulled from history and biblical structures to show the severity of these systems. What’s satisfying is getting to work on something that has resonance beyond entertainment. I think the show is genuinely entertaining, but it also says something real about institutions, power, and the way we behave socially. That’s a huge bonus. You feel like you’re contributing to something beyond pure entertainment.

What kinds of roles are you hoping to pursue next?

I think of acting partly as a service. Writers and productions have ideas they want to express, and I’m there to help bring those ideas to life. I don’t really operate from a position of “I’m only choosing this kind of role.” Truthfully, I go for anything I connect with, and a lot of it is out of my control anyway.

Who first inspired you to become an actor?

I’d probably say Jim Carrey. I grew up when he was arguably the biggest star in the world, and what fascinated me was how much storytelling he could do physically. Even in something like Liar Liar, there’s so much detail in his performance. And then you see his dramatic work as well, which gives him this incredible dimensionality. Plus, he’s a tall guy with brown hair, and as a kid I probably looked at that and thought, “Alright, maybe there’s something there for me too.”