After two seasons of playing new-money New York City matriarch Bertha Russell on HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” Carrie Coon has a theory for why the period drama set in the 1890s keeps audiences rapt.
“In a world that is very chaotic and, frankly, terrifying — some days the news is very bleak — we feel at times in this country powerless,” she said. “To have a show where a problem gets created and then 15 minutes later it’s resolved, it’s pretty comforting. And to have that comfort cloaked in gorgeous, very detailed costumes, Emmy-winning production design and a Broadway bingo [cast of actors], that’s just icing on the cake.