HBO’s The Gilded Age is a semi-historical period drama from the creator of Downton Abbey, giving us a look at two powerful, late 19th-century families. And if you’re wondering who plays who, here are all major cast members in The Gilded Age.
The Major Cast Members & Actors in The Gilded Age
Unlike Downton Abbey, The Gilded Age focuses on two high-society families, the Russells and the Rhijn-Brooks. They’re just the best of friends – I’m kidding, of course, a show like this couldn’t exist without some drama.
The Rhijin-Brooks are “old money,” being able to trace their family – and wealth – back generations, while the Russells have made their fortunes relatively recently, which the Rhijin-Brooks resent a little. Plus, both families are understandably set on staying rich. Here, then, are the major cast members in the show.
Bertha Russell is the wife of railway magnate George Russell. Bertha is aware of how she’s viewed by the old money families and intends to raise her and her family’s societal standing. She’s played by Carrie Coon, who featured in The Leftovers and in the third season of Fargo, where she went toe to toe with David Thewlis’s V.M Varga.
George Russell, Bertha’s husband, is a railway magnate who is known for being ruthless and petty in business. He’s played by actor Morgan Spector ,who you may remember, among other things, from Stephen King’s The Mist (the series, not the Frank Darabont movie).
Agnes van Rhijn is the head of The Gilded Age’s second family. She’s a little old-fashioned, and after the death of her husband, she feels a responsibility to safeguard her family and her family name. She’s played by Christine Baranski, whose acting career spans four decades. However, I’ll always see her as Martha May Whovier from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Marian Brook is a member of the Rhijn-Brook family who finds herself penniless and orphaned and is taken in by her aunt, Agnes. She’s something of an outsider, with ideas that Agnes and her family may not approve of. She’s played by Louisa Jacobson, who, up until The Gilded Age, mostly worked in theatre.
Peggy Scott is Marian’s friend, a writer she meets when arriving in New York. Marian’s aunt Agnes hires her as her secretary, but she has aspirations of becoming a newspaper reporter. She’s played by Denée Benton, who has a background in musical theatre.
Other main characters include Cynthia Nixon as Ada Brook, Agnes’ sister, Taissa Farmiga as Gladys Russell, the youngest member of the Russell family, and Blake Ritson as Oscar Van Rhijn, Agnes’s son who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with her.
The Rest of the Cast of The Guilded Age
Aside from those actors I’ve already mentioned, a host of others lend their performances to the show. This isn’t Fargo, so don’t expect them to die horribly, but one or two have made an exit from the show. Here’s who plays who.
- Simon Jones as Bannister
- Harry Richardson as Larry Russell
- Thomas Cocquerel as Tom Raikes
- Jack Gilpin as Church
- Jeanne Tripplehorn as Sylvia Chamberlain
- Audra McDonald as Dorothy Scott
- Kelli O’Hara as Aurora Fane
- Donna Murphy as Mrs. Astor
- Michael Cerveris as Watson
- Debra Monk as Armstrong
- Katie Finneran as Anne Morris
- Celia Keenan-Bolger as Mrs. Bruce
- Kristine Nielsen as Mrs. Bauer
- John Douglas Thompson as Arthur Scott
- Bill Irwin as Cornelius Eckhard
- Patrick Page as Richard Clay
- Douglas Sills as Baudin
- Amy Forsyth as Carrie Astor
- Taylor Richardson as Bridget
- Kelley Curran as Turner
- Ben Ahlers as Jack Treacher
- Nathan Lane as Ward McAllister
- Sullivan Jones as T. Thomas Fortune
- Linda Emond as Clara Barton
- Michel Gill as Patrick Morris
- Ward Horton as Charles Fane
Those are the main and side characters in The Gilded Age. And if you were wondering who the Russells are based on, here’s your answer.
