HBO’s The Gilded Age Interview | Taissa Farmiga & Blake Ritson Talk Modernized Period Piece

The Gilded Age introduces a whole new group of young characters to the costume drama world envisioned by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. Two of those characters, Gladys Russell and Oscar van Rhijn, are searching for freedom at any cost. It’s tough to come by for Gladys, played by Taissa Farmiga, while the older Oscar, played by Blake Ritson, has much more experience away from his mother’s control. As viewers will see in the premiere, Gladys is the daughter of George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha (Carrie Coon), who are both trying to climb New York’s social ladder. Bertha insists on keeping Gladys from having a social life until the Russells are welcomed into society and she can have a giant ball to introduce Gladys. It’s stifling for her. “The thing that I relate to immediately with Gladys was her frustration of growing up in a house with seemingly arbitrary rules,“ Farmiga told host Daniel Levine. “They didn’t make sense and why she couldn&