‘The Testaments’: Why Was Commander MacKenzie Recast in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Spinoff?

Agnes MacKenzie (Chase Infiniti) was raised by Commander MacKenzie and his wife, Tabitha, in The Handmaid’s Tale. The Testaments spinoff shows Agnes’s home life with her Gilead father and his new wife, Paula (Amy Seimetz), after the death of Tabitha and as Agnes prepares to become a wife herself. The Testaments Episode 4 has the most scenes with Commander MacKenzie yet. If you thought the character looked different than he did in Handmaid’s, that’s because the role was recast for the spinoff. Warning: The Testaments spoilers ahead.

Was Commander MacKenzie recast in The Testaments?

Jason Butler Harner played Commander MacKenzie in three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale. The Ozark and Lincoln Lawyer actor appeared in Season 5 Episodes 3, 9, and 10. Harner did not return in The Testaments. Commander MacKenzie is now played by Nate Corddry. The character met Daisy (Lucy Halliday) in The Testaments Episode 4.

It’s not clear why Commander MacKenzie was recast in the spinoff, but these kind of things are commonly due to scheduling issues or the creative team wanting to go in a different direction.

Corddry is known for roles in Mom, For All Mankind, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Harry’s Law, and more.

Who is Tabitha MacKenzie from The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments?

Amy Landecker played Agnes’s Gilead mother, Tabitha, in The Handmaid’s Tale. She was seen in three episodes: Season 3 Episode 1, and Season 5 Episodes 3 and 9. Landecker appeared as Tabitha in The Testaments in a brief flashback in Season 1 Episode 2. Commander MacKenzie married Paula before the events of The Testaments.

The Testaments adapts the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. Tabitha is dead in the book as well.

'The Testaments': Is June Osborne a Threat to Agnes?

Does Agnes remember June and Luke in The Testaments?

Agnes doesn’t seem to know or remember much about her life before Gilead in The Testaments. Viewers know that she is Hannah Bankole, the daughter of June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) and Luke Bankole (O-T Fagbenle), but Infiniti told TV Insider that at the beginning of the series, Agnes simply knows June as “a rebel handmaid.”

“It’s just that, and she’s this horrible person who has caused mass destruction,” Infiniti said. “There’s never been a perspective of that story that has not had June as the enemy.”

Will that change in The Testaments Season 1? Stay tuned to find out.

The Testaments, Wednesdays, Hulu

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