The Testaments’ Brad Alexander weighed in on fans comparing his role as Garth to Max Minghella‘s infamous character Nick from The Handmaid’s Tale.
“It makes sense. It’s a worthy comparison,” Alexander exclusively told Us Weekly about the similarities between the men in The Handmaid’s Tale universe.
Alexander recalled watching “all of” The Handmaid’s Tale — except the final season — while filming the spinoff.
“I didn’t want to accidentally absorb Max Minghella’s characterization or performance. He’s an incredible actor and there are functional similarities between the two characters,” he noted. “But no, I haven’t seen the fan edits yet.”
Based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, The Testaments is a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, which takes place in a dystopian future where low fertility rates lead women to be assigned to men for the purpose of bearing children.
The Testaments is set years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, which aired from 2017 to 2025. Minghella portrayed Nick, who was June’s (Elisabeth Moss) love interest on the original series. Alexander, meanwhile, has a scene-stealing role on The Testaments as Garth, who is paired off with June’s daughter, Agnes (Chase Infiniti).
“I truly think the most interesting things about Garth happened before the events of the show. How does this guy who grew up in Gilead have such a strong moral realization about the truth?” Alexander told Us. “He is right minded and then he goes on to actually try and affect change in a way that doesn’t attract any attention. It’s a complicated psychology.”
He continued: “Our positioning was that Garth is a Gilead native and he’s grown up in this environment and he is ambitious. He spent his teen years wanting everything that Gilead can give a man — which is power and responsibility and authority. He has these interactions with these chaotic women in his life who put him on a different path.”
In addition to working for Mayday, the secret resistance group, Garth has to navigate a role as a young Guardian who is about to become a Commander. He caught Agnes’ eye early in the season, but Alexander teased their relationship remains to be seen.
“He’s not quite there yet. I don’t think Garth has a very secure conception of what romantic love even is or could be. Everything in Gilead is based on dynastic connection. All marriages are based on economics and status,” he said. “So I don’t think he has a really good conception of it. He sees Agnes’ affection and he likes it — and he definitely values and praises her. He’s excited by it, but he’s more keen on demonstrating to her that she’s a human being worthy of personal development and growth outside of the constraints of Gilead. That’s his main concern for now.”
Garth also interacts with Daisy (Lucy Halliday), who is adjusting to her role as a pearl girl infiltrating Gilead.
“It’s the same but opposite with Agnes. With Agnes, he’s subservient and he’s her employee. He will do whatever she needs and whatever she says. But with Daisy, he is her handler. There is an ownership and an authority over her,” the actor detailed. “He’s protecting her from a Commander [in a scene in episode 5], but it seems that he is trying on the clothing of typical Gilead in masculinity. He is seeing how it feels. With Daisy, he’s concerned by her chaos, but he’s also attracted to the notion that he’s in control.”
Alexander didn’t rule out The Testaments exploring Garth considering the dark side, adding, “We don’t know what’s going to happen. He is sincere in the moral realization that he’s had about these women and how this is wrong. But the allure of power — as we see all over the world — is a strong one. I wonder what his experience is in that domain and becoming a commander.”
He continued: “His status as a commander will help him pursue his goals as a Mayday operative. But it’s a risky game to play, isn’t it? The further you get up in the chain of command, he’s getting more information and more intel. But he’s also more visible and more instrumental in that world. It’s a crazy game to play.”
Looking ahead, Alexander is curious where Garth’s story could go. He showed support for possible out-of-the-box story ideas — including finding a way to bring Minghella to The Testaments despite Nick dying in the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale.
“Maybe Garth could be haunted by Max’s ghost,” Alexander quipped to Us.
The Testaments airs Wednesdays on Hulu.
