“There’s something satisfying about problems being created and solved 15 minutes later in a world where we just don’t have that opportunity,” says Carrie Coon of the appeal of HBO’s “The Gilded Age.”
(Richard Phibbs / Trunk File)
Carrie Coon doesn’t have time to tan. She was in Thailand for weeks, filming the third season of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” wearing swimsuits with sleeves, because a few days after returning to the U.S., she would be wearing a corset-style suit to play Bertha, an aspiring socialite, on HBO’s “The Gilded Age” — and there was no way Bertha was going to show up tan.
“It was a real whiplash,” Coon says with a laugh during a recent Zoom chat from her home in upstate New York. She also spoke to The Envelope about life after lockdown, the soap opera elements of “Gilded” and whether society knows how to tell a true female heroine story.
The last time we talked about “The Nest” was in 2021, during lockdown, and you said that after lockdown the first thing you planned to do was hug your parents and grandparents. Did that happen?
Yes, of course! We also had another baby during lockdown. I lost my last grandparent this year, but I had three of them who were already in their 90s. And my parents were here visiting when I received my Emmy nomination. It was absolute chaos in our house that morning and they were thrilled to be there to receive the news.
So how did you get back into the world once lockdown was lifted?
My life changed enormously after the lockdown, because the “Golden Age” began. I had my second child in Chicago and Tracy [husband Tracy Letts] I went off to do “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” I was having this new baby and getting our Chicago home ready for a big move. Now we have this beautiful house in Bedford, New York. It's a weird country getaway. I'm surrounded by huge trees and my kids are growing up naked outside all summer.
Meanwhile, “Gilded Age” continues: you are working on season 3. What interests you about Bertha?
We gave away a lot of exposition after Season 1, so Season 2 gave her more opportunities to be vulnerable. It's always a challenge to go into that period, with that exaggerated language, in those spaces and those dresses, and make it feel real, to make you feel like a human being.
“We deserve a chance to relax and be entertained,” says Carrie Coon of the melodrama “The Gilded Age.”
(Alison Rosa / HBO)
“Gilded Age” is a large cast with spectacular costumes, overlapping stories that use, as you say, exaggerated language, and there are all kinds of melodramas. So, in the best possible sense, do you consider the show to be a soap opera?
Yes, I do. It's not necessarily a job that I'm drawn to. It's not something that I would necessarily choose to watch myself. My husband is responsible for all of our choices in terms of television and film; it's a decision that I don't have to make during the day. But love I love that aspect. We're creating our own world with our dialect coach and trying to keep everyone in the same story. I'm really pleased that Sonja Warfield and Julian Fellowes have embraced this fast-paced storytelling.
Why are we, as an audience, and you, as an actor, drawn to these kinds of stories?
There is something satisfying about having problems created and solved 15 minutes later in a world where we simply don't have that opportunity. I have small children and the climate change news I read daily is enough to keep me in bed. What gets me out of bed is knowing that I am providing a kind of palliative care to the masses. We deserve a chance to relax and be entertained.
“Palliative care” makes me feel like humanity is in a hospice.
I'm a terrible cynic. I'm quite negative about the state of the world, particularly the environment. I'm a total prepper. [Co-star] Morgan Spector and I talked at length about our prep libraries, Mormon canned wheat, and planting a garden. My family won't survive, because I'm a terrible gardener. But this is my way of shedding some light on the world, because I certainly don't do that at the holidays.
Another thing you mentioned last time we spoke is that society hasn't understood what the story of a female heroine is like. Are we making progress?
I have not seen it done to my satisfaction. [Tracy and I] I recently rewatched A Single Woman with Jill Clayburgh. Not many people even know that movie exists. I feel like maybe we need to go back a little bit to go forward. We were on the cusp of something, and when the film industry changed in the 80s, we lost that middle level of filmmaking.
Do you think the recent rise of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris can change our perceptions of what a female hero's story can look like?
I feel the energy. I'm ready to put all women in charge, because this is where men have brought us.
