Bertha Russell did the rattling factor. In The Gilded Age’s second season finale, Carrie Coon’s ruthless robber baroness emerged the victor within the nice struggle between her beloved Metropolitan Opera and The Academy of Music, championed by old-money society queen Lina Astor (performed by Donna Murphy). Even these casually acquainted with American historical past most certainly had an inkling as to who would reign supreme—lately, the Met is arguably New York’s grandest cultural establishment, whereas the Academy of Music has gone the way in which of the dodo. Still, the battle was thrilling all the identical.
“The stakes come from not knowing what the cost will be to each individual person,” Coon says over Zoom. “Also, a lot of people in the audience don’t know any of this history. They don’t know there’s a Metropolitan Opera in New York. I mean, that’s stuff that I didn’t know growing up in Ohio. I didn’t know there were mansions in Newport people lived in for six weeks in the summer.” She laughs on the extravagance. “Bananas.”
What’s bananas is Coon’s ferocious efficiency as Mrs. Russell, loosely based mostly on historic millionaire-wife and Anderson Cooper relative Alva Vanderbilt. In a solid completely stacked with theater luminaries —together with Murphy, Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald—Coon nonetheless stands out, sufficient to land a spot on Vanity Fair’s record of the perfect performances of 2023. She credit the love of her character partially to Bertha’s relationship along with her husband, Mr. Russell, performed by Morgan Spector, which she cheekily calls “#couplegoals.”
“I think people have found themselves rooting for robber barons in spite of themselves on the show, partly because Julian [Fellowes] has written such a solid, cohesive, sexy marriage,” says Coon. “Even as they are ruthless in the world of business and in their social climbing, they are ultimately looking out for their children. Bertha can’t be a senator. She can’t be a CEO. She’s not the president of anything. This is her purview.”
Below, Coon goes deep on filming season two’s grand finale, Gilded Age: The Musical, and doubtlessly saying goodbye to the collection for good.
The season finale appeared to strongly indicate that Bertha provided up her daughter, Gladys (Taissa Farmiga), as a sacrificial lamb to get the Duke in his seat. Did she promise Gladys’s hand in marriage simply to get him to come back to the Met?
It’s not specific, however we all know how George feels about it. And we have seen many, many instances that Bertha has executed one thing regardless of George’s counsel. I believe we will completely assume Bertha would, in a heartbeat, commerce Gladys for that standing.
Now, Bertha would not see herself as any sort of villain. Bertha is gifting the town of New York a model new opera home with the perfect singers on the earth, and an entertaining night with a Duke. And they have been all anglophiles. Everyone was obsessive about British standing. It’s the explanation Mrs. Astor had the households of the 400—all the principles have been social constructs designed to catch folks out so they would not get entree into this society. You needed to actually study these guidelines earlier than you could possibly play the sport.
Bertha is a fast research, and she or he’s additionally prepared to name bullshit when she sees it. She believes that folks ought to be capable to earn their means in. She believes she’s earned her means in, and she or he believes that she’s residing in a meritocracy. For her, that is true. For folks of coloration and the immigrants being crushed below the capitalist machine, that was not true—however she actually in her coronary heart believes that. I believe that is why the rise of Turner (Kelley Curran) is so fascinating, as a result of, given the identical circumstances, I believe Bertha shouldn’t be certain she might have achieved what Turner has achieved. I believe that is very intimidating for her.
It was thrilling to see the Russells battle about Mrs. Turner’s indiscretions earlier within the season. During their battle, we noticed a uncommon crack in Mrs. Russell’s emotional armor.