(l-r) Morgan Spector and Carrie Coon stars in THE GILDED AGE. ©HBO.
BY JUDY SLOANE
Front Row Features
HOLLYWOOD-The Emmy nominated HBO drama, from creator Julian Fellows (Downton Abby,) “The Gilded Age” begins its fourth season, November 1, 2026, at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will stream on HBO Max.
“The Gilded Age” is a period drama set in New York City in the late 19th century, spotlighting the tensions between new money, represented by Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) and her businessman husband George (Morgan Spector,) and old money, the van Rhijns, headed by Mrs. van Rhijn (Christine Baranski.)
As the 4th season begins Bertha has managed to change society, but at a cost that her family must now reckon with. Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector joined TV critics at the Plaza Hotel in New York to talk about the newest chapter in the popular series.
Q: Carrie, last season we witnessed the aftermath of Bertha’s determination to set up the best future for her daughter, Gladys. Can you speak a little bit about what those implications are of that decision and how that might impact not only Gladys’ marriage and family life, but yours as well?
Carrie Coon: Well, I was right, I’m not ashamed of it. George needs to get his act together. Now this is pre-psychology, we don’t have a concept of the self. And so, George is living a very unexamined life right now. He’s really going through it. And he hasn’t quite metabolized what has happened to him, and therefore he cannot communicate it to me. So, I expect that time heals all wounds, and that just proves to be not true this year. It’s going to take a lot more work than just time. But Gladys is doing great, and Bertha feels vindicated about that.
Q: In fairness to George, there was an assassination attempt on his life, as well.
Morgan Spector: True. It’s distracting.
Q: How do you think that that might affect his business decisions?
Morgan Spector: I think it’s a total life reset for George. I think his relationship with Bertha has, if not collapsed, at least fallen on hard times. He’s been nearly killed and he’s also failed his daughter catastrophically.
For George, the relationship with Gladys, the relationship with Bertha are central to his concept of himself as a good human being. And I think he’s really failed in both of these areas, and his capacity to compartmentalize and be business-ruthless, but kind and loving father at home, that’s all out the window. And now he’s got to figure out how he can think of himself as a decent person and what his principles really are going forward. That’s all at play in this season.
Q: Morgan, can you talk a little more about how George’s relationship with Bertha now has affected his businesses?
Morgan Spector: I think George without Bertha, is lost, actually, and I think that’s what we see play out over the whole season, is that without that central relationship structuring his life and providing real meaning to everything he does, all of his business is in service of this family and in service with that relationship. And even in service of her ambitions. It’s about realizing together what they want to achieve as a couple. And if everything he’s doing is no longer in service [to] that, then I think he really is adrift.
Q: Carrie, you wear these elaborate costumes on the show. How long does it take for you to get ready to shoot?
Carrie Coon: Our teams are incredible. My makeup on the show is quite minimal. It’s very deft. So, I don’t spend a lot of time in the makeup chair. Christine Harlan, who does my wig has been putting wigs on my head for about a decade, because she’s been on every job in New York I’ve ever worked. And my dresser, Amber, can get me dressed in a dress in 10 minutes or less. It is down to science.
Going to the bathroom backwards is a hack I like to suggest for any woman wearing a voluminous gown with things sticking out the back of it because you don’t want to have a dip.
Q: Are Bertha and George happy?
Carrie Coon: Is Bertha Russell happy?
Morgan Spector: Are you happy, Carrie Coon?
Carrie Coon: Am I happy? Listen, how much time have you got? I don’t know that the question of happiness is one that some women, in particular because that’s the experience I can speak to, have the luxury of asking.
So much of what it means to be a woman in the world is about survival. Of course, Bertha has every advantage in the world, as do I. I live a life of tremendous privilege. And yet, the dance I am doing as a working mom in a society where both of those things are somehow wrong is not an easy one.
I feel a woman like Bertha is not thinking about that. She’s prioritizing. Maybe there’s contentment, but somebody like Bertha, it’s an unfillable hole. There’s nothing that will ever fill that hole. That engine is always running. I don’t imagine her ever feeling content. So happy, maybe not, but moments of it, like everybody. That’s the human condition; moments of pleasure in the midst of survival.
Q: The power dynamics that exist between Bertha and George are not only essential to the show, but essential to your characters, essential to the period. What does power mean to each of your characters?
Morgan Spector: The capacity to exert your will, I think for George. It’s pretty straightforward. You either have it or you don’t.
Carrie Coon: There’s something in there about legacy as well. Bertha’s trying to solidify her children’s place in the world and therefore her grandchildren’s place, and that they will always occupy that space and have those privileges that they have access to now.
