Brad Alexander: from Gilead to greatness

This year’s must-see streaming drama is The Testaments, the gripping series which serves as a continuation of The Handmaid’s Tale, based on Margaret Atwood’s celebrated novel. Set once again in the authoritarian nation of Gilead, Chase Infiniti stars as a young woman who lives at a preparatory school for future wives, being taught the oppressive means of subservience that underpin Gilead’s society.

Unwittingly, she becomes embroiled in a revolutionary plot by Mayday, an organisation looking to bring the regime down from within. As regular viewers will know, one of the show’s most intriguing characters is Garth, a Gilead commander who is secretly a Mayday operative. Played by Brad Alexander, he’s a new star whose trajectory is just as thrilling.

“He is somewhat shrouded in mystery,” the British actor says of Garth, “I think even to himself, his motives aren’t 100% clear.” The character has developed beyond the original books by Margaret Atwood, and he tells fans to prepare for surprises. “You eventually figure out why he’s on the journey that he’s on, and what influences could have put him on that path. It’s exciting to watch it evolve.”

It’s another big role for a star who burst onto the scene in 2023, playing Edward in Netflix thriller You. Preparing for The Testaments, Alexander found another inspiration in original author Atwood, whose work he discovered when preparing for the role. “I was obviously aware of the novels, but I hadn’t read them yet,” he explains. “So, my first move when I got the call was to read them, and they’re incredible. Margaret Atwood has earned every right to her literary icon status. Such a rich world, so detailed and so horrifying in the way that she describes the internal dialogue of these women who are suffering so severely. I really like the books.”

Both The Testaments and its predecessor have made headlines for their parallels with the state of politics in the real world, something Alexander is all too aware of. “It’s no surprise at all that the themes in this are resonant and only appearing more so as the weeks go on,” he says. “It touches up really closely with themes of resistance and political oppression. It’s scary because it’s real, it’s weighty material, but it’s also a massive honour to be working on something that has that thematic quality.”

So, do The Testaments and Garth deliver a positive message for troubled times? “I wouldn’t put it as positive or negative. It’s an exploration,” he replies, hesitant to claim his character as any kind of antidote to toxic masculinity. “It’s not necessarily that we’re just demonstrating that this person or that person is good or bad. It’s complex. It’s obviously a lot to chew on as an actor, and I think people find the themes really empowering, and instructive even. I think the fact that it has resonance is an asset.”

Beyond the show, he is set to appear in a new work by another TV giant. “I recently worked with Charlie Brooker on a TV show,” he beams. “I can’t say much about it, we’re still far away from the release and not much has been said about the project, but I can say I think people will be really excited by what he’s come up with.”

As for the Black Mirror creator himself? “Incredible” he enthuses. “I mean, Charlie is seriously a genius. And especially with the material he’s done. I mean, again, I can’t speak about it too much, but there are strokes of real genius in this project.”

He names Andrew Garfield among his other acting inspirations. “I’ve loved Andrew Garfield for a long time. I think he’s an actor that has an uncanny ability to bring his emotion or whatever he’s experiencing [to] the forefront. You can really see what his machinations are.”

With two hit shows under his belt and an exciting project on the horizon, Alexander is set for a future much brighter than the one portrayed in Gilead. Far from letting the success get to his head, he remains hungry for the next challenge. “Every project, it’s such a privilege,” he says. “A new set of ideas to ponder and to think about and to express and just finding those tethers to your real life, what experiences you’ve had that shape your performances. It’s just a complete joy.”