Mattea Conforti ’28 stars in ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ sequel on Hulu

At first, she silenced the call. She wanted to stay focused on her Biotech Ethics course at Lowell Lecture Hall. 

But then the phone rang again. When Mattea Conforti ’28 stepped outside to answer, her manager delivered the good news: She had landed a central role in the new Hulu TV series “The Testaments.” Conforti plays Becka Grove in the “Handmaid’s Tale” sequel, which premiered April 8. 

“I found out and I was just screaming. I was like, ‘Oh my God, what? What?’” the 19-year-old Pforzheimer House resident recalled. “I was crying because I was just so happy. Then I had to go back into my lecture and continue taking notes.” 

Based on the 2019 novel by Margaret Atwood, M.A. ’62, the TV series follows a group of young women who attend Lydia Prep, an academy for obedient future wives in the fictional Republic of Gilead. 

“Their sole purpose in life is to become a wife and to adhere to the rules and obligations that men set for them,” Conforti explained. “It’s a really powerful story about friendship and the power of resilience.”

The New Jersey native had submitted a virtual audition tape as a first-year last spring. But after booking the role, there was just one week to prepare before filming began in Canada. Unable to be in two places at once, she took a leave of absence from Harvard College and filmed from March to August. 

Conforti said she knew Becka would be a challenging character to play. Like all the young women in Gilead, Becka is expected to remain compliant and suppress her emotions, never showing her pain in an obvious, external way.

“She is such a layered character, and at any moment she’s thinking about 50 million struggles at once. How can you communicate that? How can you really dive into that?” Conforti said. “I really had to take my time with each scene, and I had really great conversations with one of our directors, Mike Barker, and our showrunner, Bruce Miller, who were so helpful with really laying out Becka’s character for me.”

The experience of living on Harvard’s campus, which inspired some locations in Atwood’s fictional universe, drew an interesting parallel for Conforti. This year, she lives on the Radcliffe Quadrangle, where Atwood studied in the early 1960s.

“My family are all really big ‘Handmaid's Tale’ fans,” Conforti said. “My nonna is a really big Margaret Atwood fan. She has all of her books and is going to be purchasing her memoir very soon. Growing up, I have been around many conversations about Atwood and how important she’s been to modern society.”

Conforti began acting at age 7 and debuted as the titular role in “Matilda” on Broadway at age 9. Her stage and film credits include Young Anna in “Frozen” on Broadway, the voice of Young Elsa in the animated movie “Frozen 2” (2019), and a young Janice Soprano in “The Sopranos” prequel movie “The Many Saints of Newark” (2021).

She recalled falling in love with acting during her run as “Matilda.”

“It was such a surreal moment, because I never viewed it as a job or something that I had to go to. It was just a hobby and an activity,” Conforti recalled. “From that moment on I made acting my outlet in life rather than it being my career.”

Conforti hasn’t yet declared a concentration, but she is interested in psychology, government, and Theater, Dance & Media. Her favorite course so far has been the renowned GenEd “Justice” course led by Michael J. Sandel, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government.

Outside of class, Conforti has been involved with Hasty Pudding Theatricals, including their 2025 production “101 Damnations.”

“I’ve never been in such a motivating and passionate environment,” Conforti said of her time at Harvard. “Everybody is so individual and unique, and it really allows me to see the importance in every talent and every hobby. There are people I would have never even dreamed of meeting without coming to school here. It’s a blessing to be here.”

After the “Testaments” trailer was released in early March, Conforti said her friends on campus have been excited and supportive, even if many are nonplussed to see her embody a character so different from her bubbly real-life personality.

“It’s a side of me that I don’t think they have seen yet, but they’re so supportive and so happy for me,” Conforti said. “I’ve found such a great group of people here to surround myself with where I feel comfortable expressing myself in that way.”

Harvard Favorites with Mattea Conforti

Favorite place to get food in Harvard Square? 

I’m such a bowl person, so I love Sweetgreen. 

Favorite study spot? 

Any coffee shop on campus. 

Favorite annual Harvard event or tradition? 

I love the Harvard–Yale game. My whole family is making it an annual tradition. It's so much fun. 

One thing every Harvard student should do during their time here? 

Take a class that you never thought you would ever be interested in. You have such an amazing opportunity to do so here. Why not explore?