HBO is standing on the right side of history and bringing The Gilded Age back for season three. What can we expect besides, um … great gowns, beautiful gowns? Well, the fashion is just one reason to love this campy show set in late-19th-century New York high society. (Lucky for you, Vulture critic Kathryn VanArendonk has helpfully compiled a list of 11 such reasons.) On June 17, we got a peek behind the curtain into season three; the logline reads, “The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic and social change, when huge fortunes were made and lost overnight. With the old guard officially deposed, New York society finds itself turned upside down, and all must get their house in order. But even those at the helm of this new era may find that change comes at a cost.†Does this economic change mean seeing Cynthia Nixon stepping into her role as a rich boss lady? Here’s everything we know about season three of The Gilded Age, including its newest cast members.
Any new socialites getting dressed up?
JP Morgan is finally showing up in the era that made him rich, rich, rich. On August 12, HBO announced that Bill Camp would play the investment banker who’ll “find himself at odds†with George Russell over the railroad industry’s future. He’s joined by another businessman, Alfred Merrick, played by Paul Alexander Nolan, who the Russells hope to get a business deal from.
While they are not of Costco variety, the Kirklands are a high-society family with a doctor son — who will probably be a highly sought-after bachelor — joining the cast this season. Ooh la la. Phylicia Rashad joins as the head matriarch, Mrs. Elizabeth Kirkland, described as a woman with “high standards†and a “sharp tongue.†As for the physician’s son, Dr. William Kirkland will be played by Charmed’s Jordan Donica; as opposed to his mother, he “isn’t as narrow-minded†as the others in his social circle. Brian Stokes Mitchell will play his father, Frederick Kirkland, a pastor of a prominent Black church and leader in the Newport community. Outside of the Kirkland household comes Victoria Clark, who will play Joan Carlton, a woman coming from old money who finds “herself in a complicated and insulting situation.†Leslie Uggams will play Mrs. Ernestine Brown, a friend of the Kirkland family.
The Russell family lore grows as well. Merritt Wever joins as Monica O’Brien, Bertha Russell’s estranged sister. Meanwhile, Peggy makes some new friends; Lisagay Hamilton has been added as the famed Black suffragist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper who inspires Peggy to work with her cause, and Jessica Frances Dukes plays Athena Trumbo, Dorothy’s first cousin who supports Peggy’s writing career. Hattie Morahan joins as Lady Sarah Vere, Sister to the Duke of Buckingham, and she’s not a fan of the Russells. And lastly, all the Gilded Age needed was a psychic— Andrea Martin plays Madame Dashkova, “a medium who claims to be able to commune with the dead.â€
While there’s no confirmation on who’s coming back for thirds, season two starred Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Taissa Farmiga, and Harry Richardson, among many others — and mainly revolved around a battle for box seats at the opera. And, hey, we know there’s at least one guy on Grindr who’s waiting to see Ashlie Atkinson return as Mrs. Fish.
This post has been updated throughout.Â