The nine-episode drama series stars an ensemble cast of Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Taissa Farmiga, Blake Ritson, Simon Jones, Harry Richardson, Thomas Cocquerel, Jack Gilpin, with Cynthia Nixon and Christine Baranski. The season one finale will air March 21.
The show, which is a co-production between HBO and Universal Television, is an epic drama that follows the millionaire titans of New York City in the 1880s.
The series begins in 1882 with young Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her thoroughly old money aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) and Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon). Accompanied by Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon). Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path?
Additional cast includes Ben Ahlers, Michael Cerveris, Kelley Curran, Claybourne Elder, Linda Emond, Katie Finneran, Amy Forsyth, Michel Gill, Ward Horton, Bill Irwin, Sullivan Jones, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, Debra Monk, Donna Murphy, Kristine Nielsen, Kelli O’Hara, Patrick Page, Taylor Richardson, Douglas Sills, John Douglas Thompson, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Erin Wilhelmi.
“Julian Fellowes and the entire Gilded Age family have thoroughly captivated us with their tale of late 19th century New York City extravagance,” said Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming. “Along with our partners at Universal Television, we couldn’t be prouder to embark on a season two journey with this extraordinarily talented team.”
Erin Underhill, President, Universal Television said: “The first season of The Gilded Age is the beginning of an epic story that introduced a fascinating world full of intriguing characters. The scope of Julian’s vision is ambitious, and we’re thrilled to continue to explore the depths of this fascinating era with HBO.”'
The Gilded Age was created, written and exec produced by Fellowes with Gareth Neame and David Crockett also exec producing. Michael Engler and Salli Richardson-Whitfield are directors and exec producers with Sonja Warfield as writer and co-exec producer.
