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If there are two things we’ve come to expect when seeing Morgan Spector and Carrie Coon on screen together, it is chemistry and drama. And as the stars of The Gilded Age join WHO over Zoom from Los Angeles, plenty of the former is on display as they promise Season 3 is going to offer a heap of the latter.
In the thrilling Season 2 finale, the Russells were at odds as matriarch Bertha (Carrie) arranged the marriage of daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) to a wayward duke, paying her way to the family having more social standing in New York’s high society. Husband George (Morgan), however, believes Gladys is headed for a life of unhappiness and wants her to follow her heart’s desire.
“I was really quite surprised how quickly it gets into the action,” Morgan, 44, says of reading the scripts for Season 3.
Carrie, 44, adds, “There were times I was reading it when I actually squealed out loud.”
Read our entire interview with Morgan and Carrie below.
WHO: Given some of the things they do, your characters could be the show’s villains, so why do you think everyone roots for them?
Morgan: There’s a dynamic between George and Bertha that is just fun to watch. They have a whole Bonnie and Clyde thing. And even if they’re doing ugly things out in the world, they’ve got each other’s backs and you get to see that other side of them.
Going to war over the best box at the opera isn’t an everyday problem, but Bertha just wants to be liked and accepted. Do you find her relatable?
Carrie: Absolutely. I have a daughter. I want what’s best for my daughter. I know the world is not set up to have my daughter thriving. I worry for her in a way I don’t have to for my son. Bertha would have made a great CEO, but she can’t do that in her world, so she takes charge of her family. We are still having to fight for our rights here in the US, to not be disenfranchised, so I think she is relatable now more than ever.
This series has one of the best ensemble casts on TV. How does everyone get on behind the scenes?
Carrie: When we have a big ball scene and all get to come together, we just laugh on set the whole time. Otherwise, I don’t really get to see Christine [Baranski] and Cynthia [Nixon]. I love working with all of these great dames of the theatre who are so generous with their advice having already navigated the stage of being a working mother.
Morgan: Nathan [Lane] kills me whenever he is on set. He has no hesitation about working blue in front of everyone and it’s like, yeah, we are really in a very grown-up space right now, aren’t we! Christine is very funny, too.
How do you find wearing all those elaborate costumes?
Carrie: There definitely is an acclimatisation period, but once you get used to being in them, it’s OK. Everyone thinks the corsets would be the worst, but it’s actually the shoes, being in high heels for 18 hours a day, or wearing the heavy wigs and hats all day. There is a reason why the women of that age changed clothes five times a day – you can really only be comfortable in it for a few hours at a time.
Morgan: I just get to sit and watch the ladies come out of their dressing rooms in these amazing costumes and it just blows me away.
Are you ever tempted to take anything home from the dressing room?
Carrie: I don’t think so! (laughs) Maybe the wigs. I think the whole crew thinks I’m a natural brunette, so it might be fun to walk around like that undetected in real life for a few days.
Morgan: I have some beautiful tie pins that I love. But towards the end of each season, I find myself wishing I could dress like this everyday. Everything I wear is so beautifully tailored – it’s so comfortable but looks so elegant. I’d take everything but the top hats because the top hats look dumb (laughs).
Bertha is based on Alva Vanderbilt, whose real life might offer some clues to the Russells’ fate, meaning they’d divorce. How closely will the show stick to Alva’s story?
Morgan: I think it’ll be close as long as the writers find it interesting, and when it no longer is serving that purpose, there is any number of robber barons they can go off and follow. The characters have really started to become their own entity because everyone assumes it’ll follow the Vanderbilt script.
Carrie: I think the writers really enjoy going off that script and defying those expectations.
The Gilded Age Season 3 premieres Monday, June 23, 2025 only on Paramount+.
Stream Paramount+ from $6.99 a month. Sign up today.
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