After an 18-month break, get ready to give a warm welcome back to Bertha, Marian, Agnes, Ada, and the rest of The Gilded Age gang. Season 3 will premiere the first of eight episodes in June, HBO announced today, six months after Season 2 wrapped on Dec. 17, 2023. Although a specific launch day wasn’t announced, a June premiere date for the new season means it won’t be eligible for the current 2025 Emmys cycle, whose cutoff is May 31. Instead, Gilded Age Season 3 will compete at the 2026 Emmy Awards.
Returning cast members for the 1880s period piece that pits “new money” New Yorkers against the established wealthy, include Carrie Coon (hot off her White Lotus Emmy buzz) as Bertha Russell, Christine Baranski as Agnes van Rhijn, Cynthia Nixon as Ada Forte, Morgan Spector as George Russell, Louisa Jacobson as Marian Brook, Denée Benton as Peggy Scott, Taissa Farmiga as Gladys Russell, Harry Richardson as Larry Russell, and Blake Ritson as Oscar van Rhijn.
Rounding out the massive Season 3 ensemble are Ben Ahlers, Ashlie Atkinson, Dylan Baker, Kate Baldwin, Victoria Clark, John Ellison Conlee, Michael Cumpsty, Kelley Curran, Jordan Donica, Jessica Frances Dukes, Claybourne Elder, Amy Forsyth, Jack Gilpin, LisaGay Hamilton, Ward Horton, Simon Jones, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Ben Lamb, Nathan Lane, Andrea Martin, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Debra Monk, Hattie Morahan, Donna Murphy, Kristine Nielsen, Paul Alexander Nolan, Kelli O’Hara, Patrick Page, Rachel Pickup, Taylor Richardson, Douglas Sills, Bobby Steggert, Erin Wilhelmi, John Douglas Thompson, Leslie Uggams, Merritt Wever, with Bill Camp, and Phylicia Rashad.
Per the logline for the new season: “The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic and social change, when empires were built, but no victory came without sacrifice. Following the Opera War, the old guard is weakened and the Russells stand poised to take their place at the head of society. Bertha sets her sights on a prize that would elevate the family to unimaginable heights while George risks everything on a gambit that could revolutionize the railroad industry — if it doesn’t ruin him first. Across the street, the Brook household is thrown into chaos as Agnes refuses to accept Ada’s new position as lady of the house. Peggy meets a handsome doctor from Newport whose family is less than enthusiastic about her career. As all of New York hastens toward the future, their ambition may come at the cost of what they truly hold dear.”
For Season 1 in 2022, The Gilded Age won the Emmy Award for Best Period/Fantasy Production Design, but didn’t receive any other nominations. Season 2 nabbed six total bids in 2024 — Best Drama Series, Best Drama Actress (Coon), Best Drama Supporting Actress (Baranski), Best Period Costumes, Best Period/Fantasy Production Design, and Best Period/Fantasy Hairstyling — but didn’t take home any trophies.
The entire ensemble of 34 actors was nominated at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild in the drama category, signifying its strength with the industry’s acting branch. They lost to the Succession cast in that juggernaut’s final season on the awards circuit.
Season 2 of The Gilded Age ended with two battling opera houses opening on the same night in October 1883, with the wealthy characters divided over which one they’d attend. Marian chose the new Met with the Russells, which annoyed her Aunt Agnes, who instead remained loyal to the aging Academy. “What pleasure it gives me,” Bertha cooed when she saw others in the auditorium “scowling” at her newfound success. Meanwhile, Ada discovered that her recently deceased husband was secretly wealthy, so her family was able to keep their home.
The Gilded Age was created by Julian Fellowes, whose prior show Downton Abbey had an amazing awards run. The period piece about an aristocratic British family and the servants who cared for them won 15 Emmys from 69 nominations, including Best Miniseries for its first year; it moved to the Drama Series races after that. Downton Abbey was also a favorite at the SAG Awards, winning the drama ensemble prize three times for its sprawling cast.
