Emmy spotlight: Carrie Coon bares Bertha’s vulnerabilities in standout Season 2 of ‘The Gilded Age’
In 2022, the first season of “The Gilded Age” introduced the world to Carrie Coon’s utterly delightful Bertha Russell, an ambitious, unintimidated social climber whose only concern in life in 1880s New York is trying to elbow her way into the upper echelons of society. There were certainly shades to the character back then, especially in her marriage to robber baron George (Morgan Spector) and with her daughter, who is firmly under Bertha’s thumb. But in Season 2, the actress had the opportunity to do even more, breaking through Bertha’s façade to show the vulnerability that underpins her scheming character.
The seeds of this emotional arc are planted at the end of the second episode, when Ward McAllister (Nathan Lane) introduces the Russells to the Wintertons, and Mrs. Winterton is revealed to be none other than Turner (Kelley Curran), Bertha’s lady’s maid who had tried to seduce George in Season 1. Coon plays this reveal with a steely exterior that almost masks her shock and seething rage. “There is a take that exists in the world that is an 11, and by level 11 I mean I think I inhaled, staggered, caught George’s arm and half-fainted,” the actress told Gold Derby last month about that scene. The version in the final cut shows much more restraint because “there aren’t supposed to be big explosions in public,” which would have been seen as “very low class.”
WATCH our exclusive video interview with Morgan Spector, ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2
By bringing Turner back into the fold, series creator Julian Fellowes was able to open a wound in the Russells’ marriage and give Coon a tremendous showcase scene. In the episode “Head to Head,” Bertha hears innuendo about something illicit that occurred between Turner and George from Turner herself. When Bertha confronts George about this in his study, Coon takes the character to a level of emotional honesty and hurt that we’ve never seen before and it is as riveting to watch as it is painful. The character calls George’s secret-keeping “a betrayal,” and when Bertha calls her husband’s decision to keep Turner around the house after her failed seduction “disgusting,” the Tony-nominated actress makes audience recoil at the act, too, and feel great sympathy for her.
“Sometimes in period pieces, we forget that they’re people, they’re just people [with] big feelings,” Coon said. Although the couple is reunited before the season’s end, the finale promises even bigger fireworks between the two next season. In Season 2, Bertha had been waging war against Mrs. Astor and her coterie of gatekeepers by backing the new Metropolitan Opera against the old Academy of Music, and she had a triumphant opening night during which she is deemed the new head of New York society. But in order to secure that victory, Bertha had to trade away her daughter, Gladys (Taissa Farmiga), to the Duke of Buckingham to secure his presence at the Met, a deal that will surely enrage George once he learns of it.
WATCH our exclusive video interview with Julian Fellowes, ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2
The first season of “The Gilded Age” started out slowly at the Emmy Awards, only earning a single bid for production design that it deservingly won. But just like Bertha, its standing is about to change for the better with Season 2, as our odds currently indicate that the drama will pick up five major nominations for series, actress for Coon, supporting actress for Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon, and supporting actor Lane. Coon is in a tough category with only six slots but ranks fifth in our expected lineup, ahead of Reese Witherspoon (“The Morning Show”).
Coon has one past Emmy nomination for her lead performance in the third installment of “Fargo” in 2017 and just this year picked up an ensemble nomination for “The Gilded Age” from the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She doesn’t have a lengthy awards history, but television critics have been banging the drum for her recognition this year as well. In a recent Los Angeles Times piece, Trey Magnum wrote, “Carrie Coon could be coming for that Emmy,” and Matt Roush said she should be recognized for “rising above the fluff of ‘The Gilded Age.’” While Bertha would quibble with the characterization of a chronicle of her life as mere “fluff,” she would absolutely agree that she deserves a turn in the spotlight, and Coon has absolutely earned one too.
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