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Julian Fellowes has an immense body of work to his name, but there’s no denying that Downton Abbey struck a very special cord, amassing quite the fanbase in the process. With that in mind, there are some mighty high expectations for Fellowes’ upcoming series for HBO, The Gilded Age.

As the title suggests, the show is set in the United States in the late 19th Century when the country was in the midst of a period of major economic growth, but also severe loss. The show features quite the ensemble including Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Morgan Spector, Taissa Farmiga and a recent guest of Collider Ladies Night, Carrie Coon. Coon is set to play Bertha Russell, a middle-class woman who is “determined to use her money and position to break into a society that resists change at every turn.”

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Image via IFC

During our Ladies Night chat, Coon took a moment to tease the series, specifically highlighting what’ll appeal to those who are big fans of Downton, but also what will make The Gilded Age different. Here’s what she said:

“Well, of course, it’s everything Julian Fellowes does well with the added pleasure of being on HBO. I think Downton Abbey fans will be gratified by the fact that we get to be a little more edgy and a little more relevant to what’s happening in the world, but not in a way that is offensive, right? It’s not about suddenly everyone’s naked. It’s still that flavor. It’s still that time period - well, you know, it’s 1890s to the 1920s, or what have you. It’s a really interesting time to be telling that story because it was really when our economy was most stratified. You had all of these new money billionaires coming in, and people were getting poorer and poorer. And it’s really quite politically savvy to tell this story right now, and I hope that people can, as you mentioned earlier, process some things that are happening in the world but at some remove and I think it will be really, hopefully, healing.”

Later on in the interview, Coon brought it back to The Gilded Age briefly to point out a silver lining of the production delay due to the pandemic. She noted, “The pandemic has given the costume department more time to do this extraordinary hand beading, feathering, so that’s something they can look forward to!”

While we wait for more updates on The Gilded Age, you can catch Coon in her latest feature release, Sean Durkin's The Nest. You can hear Coon talk about that film, her experience in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what to expect from her character in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and so much more in her full episode of Collider Ladies Night right here.