Carrie Coon, Christine Baranski and more: ‘The Gilded Age’ season 4 cast, characters and what to expect

Created by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame, the series opens in 1880s New York, where railroad tycoon George Russell and his wife, Bertha, move into a grand Fifth Avenue mansion directly across from the old-money household of Agnes van Rhijn and her sister, Ada Brook. Bertha is shut out by the Knickerbocker establishment, led by Mrs Astor, and spends the following seasons forcing the door open, most memorably in the Opera War, when she backed the Metropolitan Opera against the Academy of Music. Meanwhile, Marian Brook, the sisters’ penniless niece, arrives from Pennsylvania with Peggy Scott, an ambitious Black writer whose story opens up the world of the Black elite.

The season three finale left everything in the balance. George survived an assassination attempt thanks to Dr William Kirkland, who later proposed to Peggy. Agnes relinquished her position as head of the household to Ada. Oscar van Rhijn floated a “lavender marriage” to the wealthy widow Mrs Winterton. Then George walked out on Bertha after she pushed their daughter Gladys into marriage with the Duke of Buckingham, just as Gladys announced she was pregnant.

‘The Gilded Age’ season 4 cast overview

• Bertha Russell – Carrie Coon (The Leftovers, Gone Girl, Fargo, The White Lotus)
• George Russell – Morgan Spector (The Plot Against America, Homeland, Boston Strangler)
• Agnes van Rhijn – Christine Baranski (The Good Wife, The Big Bang Theory, Mamma Mia!)
• Ada Forte – Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City, And Just Like That…, A Quiet Passion)
• Marian Brook – Louisa Jacobson (Gone Hollywood)
• Peggy Scott – Denée Benton (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Hamilton)
• Gladys Russell – Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story, The Nun, The Bling Ring)
• Larry Russell – Harry Richardson (Poldark, Doctor Thorne, Dunkirk)
• Oscar van Rhijn – Blake Ritson (Da Vinci’s Demons, Krypton, Upstairs, Downstairs)
• Enid Winterton – Kelley Curran (The Blacklist, God Friended Me, The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot)

Carrie Coon returns as the force of nature who dragged New York’s old guard into a new era. Bertha’s season three gains were considerable: she married Gladys to a duke and, by getting Mrs Astor to attend her ball alongside a divorced daughter, helped lift the social ban on divorced women. The price was George. HBO’s logline says Bertha “changed Society at a cost”, and the trailer shows her trying to repair the marriage.

Morgan Spector’s George begins the new season recovering from the shooting that nearly killed him, and estranged from his wife. His season three verdict was precise: he admires Bertha’s ruthlessness, but says he is “ruthless in business, not with the people I love”. Glimpses of a harried George hint that his empire is under pressure too, from government regulation and powerful rivals.

The Tony-winning Christine Baranski, known to many as Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife, plays the humbled former matriarch. Agnes gave up her seat at the head of the household, but found a new purpose when Ada arranged her appointment as vice president of the New York Heritage Society. The series’ logline promises that she “seizes an opportunity to regain her position”, and the trailer shows the van Rhijn household preparing for a presidential visit.

Cynthia Nixon, the Tony Award winner who played Miranda in Sex and the City, returns as Ada Forte, who was Ada Brook before her marriage. After the death of her husband, Reverend Luke Forte, she inherited his hidden wealth and became the financial head of the household, reversing the balance of power with her sister. What stands out is how gracefully she wears it, in a transition that preserves Agnes’s dignity.

Louisa Jacobson, the daughter of Meryl Streep, plays the audience’s way into this world. Her story points toward social work and away from drawing-room frivolity, which could put her at odds with Aunt Agnes. Her rekindled romance with Larry Russell must also survive his parents’ war. Fans who analysed the trailer frame by frame spotted the couple on a carriage ride and Marian looking dishevelled, fuelling speculation about what might have happened.

Denée Benton’s Peggy said yes to Dr William Kirkland, played by Jordan Donica, who is now a series regular. Her path to the altar runs through the hostility of his mother, Elizabeth Kirkland (Phylicia Rashad), who regards Peggy’s past as scandalous. The trailer suggests the couple’s individual professional ambitions are testing the engagement too.

There are changes in her working life as well. Sullivan Jones is not returning as the editor T Thomas Fortune, while Bonnie Milligan joins as Louisa Knapp Curtis, editor of Ladies’ Home Journal, which may signal a new chapter for Peggy’s career.

Don’t miss: 5 best Baifern Pimchanok dramas to watch before ‘Rang Ngao 2026’

Taissa Farmiga, of American Horror Story, plays the Russells’ daughter, who is now the Duchess of Buckingham. Her marriage to Duke Hector Vere (Ben Lamb) was engineered by her mother, but she has embraced her new standing. She burst in to announce she was expecting the Duke’s child just as George left the house, a scene that left Bertha alone with the consequences of her success. Season four finds Gladys adjusting to aristocratic life.

Harry Richardson, who starred in Poldark, plays the Russells’ eldest son. Larry is still pursuing architecture, and his romance with Marian has finally blossomed. The question now is how a couple so early in their story can hold steady while his parents’ marriage comes apart around them.

Blake Ritson’s Oscar lost the family fortune to a swindler, then found his own way back: a “lavender marriage” of convenience with the wealthy widow Mrs Winterton, so each could pursue society ambitions while living separate private lives. As the son of Agnes, he also has to weigh how the match will sit with a mother who is busy plotting her own social comeback. Expect Agnes and Bertha to have strong opinions.

Kelley Curran has been promoted to series regular as Enid Winterton, who was Turner, Bertha’s lady’s maid, before she inherited her late husband’s estate. Her friction with her former employer is certain to continue. She is receptive to Oscar’s scheme, and a match with Oscar would give her a place in the very society she once served.

NOW READ

Daisy Edgar Jones, Catriona Balf and more: the ‘Sense and Sensibility’ 2026 cast, characters and where you’ve seen them before

‘Possible Love’ cast guide: meet the stars of director Lee Chang-dong’s acclaimed comeback film

Barbara Palvin’s Victoria’s Secret story: 7 things to know, including her 6-year gap in the show and her relationship with Dylan Sprouse