Carrie Coon Will Replace Amanda Peet in Julian Fellowes' HBO Drama THE GILDED AGE
Carrie Coon (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) has been cast in one of the main lead roles in Julian Fellowes’ HBO drama The Gilded Age. She will be replacing Amanda Peet, who had to drop out of the series due to scheduling issues.
The Gilded Age comes from the team that previously created Downton Abbey and the story is a fictional epic of the millionaire titans of 1880s New York City. Coon joins the previously cast Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Morgan Spector, Denée Benton, Louisa Jacobson, Taissa Farmiga, Blake Ritson, Simon Jones, Harry Richardson, Thomas Cocquerel and Jack Gilpin.
The Gilded Age centers on “a period of immense economic change in America, of huge fortunes made and lost, and the rise of disparity between old money and new. Against this backdrop of change, the story begins in 1882 – introducing young Marian Brook, the orphaned daughter of a Southern general, who moves into the home of her rigidly conventional aunts in New York City. Accompanied by the mysterious Peggy Scott, an African-American woman masquerading as her maid, Marian gets caught up in the dazzling lives of her stupendously rich neighbors, led by a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife struggling for acceptance by the Astor and Vanderbilt set. Will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path in this exciting new world that is on the brink of transformation into the modern age?”
Coon will take on the role of Bertha Russell, who comes from the ordinary middle class. “She backed her instincts when she set out to catch her husband George, the son of a merchant family who has proved to be a financial genius. She is determined to use her money and position to break into a society that resists change at every turn.”
The series will shoot in New York where the period drama is set. It was slated to begin production this spring, but the series is eyeing a new start of production in the fall due to the coronavirus.
Fellowes is an incredible storyteller, so this is a series I’ll be looking forward to watching.
Source: Deadline