The Gilded Age star Carrie Coon shares how season 3 of the historical drama will be different. Written and created by English filmmaker Julian Fellowes, the HBO show revolves around the Russells and the van Rhijns, two neighboring rich families who are locked in a societal conflict involving New and Old Money. The second season concluded with Bertha Russell (Coon) scoring a major win, and The Gilded Age season 3, which will premiere in 2025, is expected to pick up as change starts to sweep New York City.
Now, in a recent interview with People discussing The Gilded Age, Coon reveals that the highly anticipated new season is set to be different from its predecessors. She explains that the show getting a season 3 was largely due to the fans, and she adds that the new season is doing away with exposition and focusing mainly on storytelling. Read her full comments below:
Chiefly exciting because we didn’t think we were getting a season 3. The people watching the show really did save it. It’s exciting because we have dispatched with all of the exposition, and now it’s all storytelling, we don’t have to introduce anyone really anymore. And I feel that [writers] Julian [Fellows] and Sonja Warfield have really embraced our very specific pacing, which is quite breathless actually, a lot can happen in an episode.
The Gilded Age Season 3 Might Fall Prey To Past Issues Despite Changes
Coon’s comments promising a different kind of storytelling for The Gilded Age season 3 are interesting, particularly when it comes to the criticism that has been leveled at the show. In the past, the series has been called over-stuffed, often filled with a number of major storylines and characters. Coon’s preview of what’s to come suggests that The Gilded Age has learned to keep things as brisk and light as possible, which would indicate fewer newcomers and extraneous storylines. However, this might not be the case after all.
There is already set to be a host of new faces joining the Gilded Age cast in season 3. For example, it was recently confirmed that Leslie Uggams, Andrea Martin, Bill Camp, and Merritt Wever are among those joining the show, and that’s only scraping the surface of the cast members who have been announced. This indicates that The Gilded Age’s world is only going to get bigger, and it will still have plenty of character introductions.
When Coon says the show doesn’t have to introduce anyone anymore, she could be referring to the core cast. By now, the various members of the Russell and van Rhijn households, as well as the members of society around them, have been well-established. With the main players in place, The Gilded Age can focus on continuing the core conflict at the center of the series, the battle between the old establishment and the new. The new characters joining the season will likely only help flesh out this conflict, and hopefully they won’t slow down the pacing.
