Polish the silver and tighten your corsets—The Gilded Age is coming back, and the stakes are higher than Bertha Russell’s ceilings. HBO’s lush period drama, from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, has made a glamorous sport out of power plays and polite takedowns in 1880s New York.
The series has garnered acclaim for its intricate storytelling and lavish production, earning six Emmy nominations for its second season, including Outstanding Drama Series and acting nods for Carrie Coon, who plays Bertha Russell, and Christine Baranski, who plays Agnes van Rhijn.
Now, with Season 3 on the horizon, whispers are swirling faster than a society invitation. Who’s climbing the social ladder? Who’s getting pushed off it? And will anyone dare upstage Mrs. Astor? Here’s everything we know so far.
When will season 3 of The Gilded Age premiere?
Season 3 is scheduled to return in June 2025, HBO confirms, though the exact release date has not yet been announced. The series’ eight episodes will be available for streaming on HBO Max. Salli Richardson-Whitfield, who has directed episodes in previous seasons, will helm the final two episodes of this season.
Who will be in the cast of The Gilded Age Season 3?
Leading ladies Baranski, Coon, Cynthia Nixon, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Taissa Farmiga and more will be back for season 3. Morgan Spector, Harry Richardson, Blake Ritson, Ben Ahlers and more will return as well.
There will also be some new faces, including Phylicia Rashad as a recurring character named Mrs. Elizabeth Kirkland. According to HBO’s description of her, she is “a woman from a prominent family in Newport with ties dating back to the American Revolution who has high standards and an occasionally sharp tongue.” Brian Stokes Mitchell will play her husband, Frederick Kirkland, a pastor at a powerful Black church in the Newport community. Their son, Dr. William Kirkland, will be played by Jordan Donica.
Two characters (played by Jordan Donica and Denée Benton) look out on what appears to be a bay in Newport.
Other new additions include Victoria Clark as Joan Carlton, described as a woman from “the old money side of New York high society;” Bill Camp as JP Morgan, who will clash with George Russell; Leslie Uggams as Mrs. Ernestine Brown, a member of the Black elite in Newport and friend of Elizabeth Kirkland; and Andrea Martin as Madame Dashkova, a medium.
What will Season 3 of The Gilded Age be about?
At the end of season 2, we observed the crescendo of the Opera War. The old guard of old money New Yorkers like Christine Baranski’s Agnes Van Rhijn and Donna Murphy’s Mrs. Astor has been weakened, and the Russells and Brook family stand poised to take their place at the top of society.
This new season promises to heighten the drama in this period of immense economic and social change: “no victory came without sacrifice,” season 3’s logline warns. “Bertha sets her sights on a prize that would elevate the family to unimaginable heights while George risks everything on a gambit that could revolutionize the railroad industry—if it doesn’t ruin him first,” HBO’s logline notes. “Across the street, the Brook household is thrown into chaos as Agnes refuses to accept Ada’s new position as lady of the house. Peggy meets a handsome doctor from Newport whose family is less than enthusiastic about her career.”
In an August 2024 interview with Deadline, Christine Baranski hinted at a dramatic turn for her character mixed with her impending fall from grace. “She’s suddenly not the head of the household, which you can tell from the way season 2 ended, that this proud haughty lady who was used to being number one is suddenly not that,” said Baranski. “So that fall from power…that’s always such a delicious thing to play, and the fall of a King is just as exciting as the rise. So it makes for a lot of humor, I think, her having to eat humble pie.”
Rachel Silva is the associate digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers all things design, architecture, and lifestyle. She also oversees the publication’s feature article coverage, and is, at any moment, knee-deep in an investigation on everything from the best spa gifts to the best faux florals on the internet right now. She has more than 16 years of experience in editorial, working as a photo assignment editor at Time and acting as the president of Women in Media in NYC. She went to Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for awards from ASME, the Society of Publication Designers, and World Press Photo.
