Denée benton made Peggy an ‘it’ girl in ‘The Gilded Age’ S3

Photo: Carolina Wojasesik/HBO

For all its dedication to upstairs-downstair cliché, HBO’s The Gilded Age Has, from the outset, been a Mold-Breacker when it is comes to breed. One of the best moments of season one was the reveal that Peggy Scott, Played by Broadway itself denee benton, does not come from a Low-income background, nor contemporaries (and spreads the audience) Expectted. She hails from a wealthy Black Family in Brooklyn, where he her father Runs a sucesssful Drugstore. SINCE THEN, The show consistently shines a light on New York’s pre -charlem Renaissance Black Community in Ways Rarely Seen on TV. The Groundbreaking Nature of this Depiction is something something of a surprise for a project by Julian Fellowes, Whose Downtown abbey typically ran Screaming from all matters of breed.

This Season, the Show Its Focus on the Scott Family a Step Further. After Peggy’s Brief Illness in the Premiere, Her Parents Take Her to Newport, Where She Begins A Flirtation with Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica). Nor the pair get to know Each Other During Longs Walks on the Coastal Cliffs, Peggy’s Mother (Audra McDonald) and Father (John Douglas Thompson) Face off Against Potential In-Laws. Played by Phylicia Rasad and Brian Stokes Mitchell, The Kirklands are Old Money: Descended from Generations of Free Americans and Proud of ther Lineage to the Point of Condecession. Mrs. Kirkland’s Haughtness Mirrors that of White Characters from SEASONS Past, but it Manifests in New Ways – Namely Colorism.

This Dynamic BetWene the Black Parents and Children is Exciting to Watch, Because It Both Feels Fresh for the Show and Remains Steadfastly with its PurView of Class Warfare. For Benton, Who Rose to Fame Playing War and Peace‘s Natasha Rostova in The Musical Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812This Unprecedented Depiction of 19th-Century Black Life is the Result of Years of Research and Conversations with the Series’ Producers and Histories. “I WOULD CALL IT A MIRACLE,” SAYS, “But it came from diligent collaboration.”

One of the best parts of The Gilded Age from the start haen been its reproduction of new York’s Wealthy Black Community. But with this season, starting in this episode, the show has broadenated its perspective to the more Estabished Society in Newport. HOW DID IT FEEL TO EXPAND The Show’s Focus?
So Much About This Show Feels Like a Lens we have haven’t really seen on tv yet. And then to add Eve more layers… “gagged” is not the right word. The Legacy that I get to be a part of is just Incredible. Back in 2019 get i got Cast in this role, there were really the only three Black People Involved in the Project: Dr. Erica dunbar, a historian who’s now an ep; Director and Ep Sali Richardson-Whitfield; and with. Audra and John Were there in Smaller Capacities. We start dreaming out Loud About How This Show Could Be Special. Julian Fellows and Director Michael Engler Gave with their emails Very Early on, whic i don’t think they regret anymore, but at one point they might have you just like it, “You guys!

All Those Planted Seeds Have Led US Int Different Regions of the Diaspora at That Time and Different Depictions of What Black Wealth Look and How Supremacy Still Showed Inside Our Own Communities. Eight Those Cliff Walks Were Not Imagined Back in 2019.

Can you describe what changes that collaboration has brought?
Originally, Peggy was going to function as Marian’s Companion. We got to reimagine that. What if Peggy is USING HER WRITING SKILLS INSIDE OF THE HOUSE AS WELL? What if instead of working at a White publication, she works at the Globe? Dr. Dunbar had all of these resources. T. Thomas fortune was a man who exisisted, so what if we just widen the lens here? And instead of these two costumes, what if we get to see Peggy in Silks and Decadent Jewel Tone? Why Wauldn’t She Also Be Seen That Way?

We widened the opportunity around where Peggy gets to be seen, not only inside of White Spaces. We kept dreaming about what it would be to have to have a Black Ball, which we’ll have at the end of this season. No One Would’ve Questioned if We Made This A White Show With A Token. But we really were like, Let’s make sura sura ours show isn’t that. We’re going to give audiences and ourselves something we haven’t seen.

Did you have an interest in the gilded age prior to working on the show?
I have always been really interested in Black History. What I knew of the gilded age was really specific People. I Knew Ida B. Wells’ Work, but not anything about a wealthy black community in brooklyn. Black Gotham, By Carla L. Peterson, is a book they gave me, and i learned about the black female writers of the 19th Century. Their Essays Asseys the Same Questions We’re Ascing Now, About Intersectionality, About Wealth Disparity, About Who to Speak for WHOM, About Colorism. They Show up BetWeen Phylicia and Audra and with and All Our Different Characters.

We’ve Gotten Our First Taste of the Conversations the Show is Going to Have a Colorism This Season, But Peggy’s Not Yet at the Center of that. She’s in the midst of a love story.
It ‘nice to see Peggy Finally Getting Lost in a Love Story That Could Work Out. We get to see Peggy be Her Own “It” girl for a moment. She’s Speaking to a Crowd About Her Political Endevors. She’s Writing Her Novel. She’s got this cute man that saved her life. She’s in these Colors we have haven’t seen her in in the white show. When Peggy Gets Int Her Conversations with Mrs. Kirkland, she’s not naïve, she just doesn’t know to censor Herself.

I have my own dreams of getting to be in films at all levels and getting to do magical realism with yorgos lanthimos. You say that, with my complexion, to an agent, and they’re like, “Okay, Kid, Best of Luck.” That is what Peggy faces in every Room. When she is does face Mrs. Kirkland, She’s Faced A Million of Those Types of Already Looks. I pull a lot from her confidence in that way.

And i like it is Peggy’s pars’ turn to show up for her – they dropped the ball in the Earlier Seasons. They Get the opportunity to ride for her as we see the season desigder.

At this point, we’ve only seen peggy bring up her Connection with Dr. Kirkland to Her Mother and Aunt. What is she really feeing?
Peggy felt an Immediatte spark with this man, especially we are as asced to read her work.

That’s very sexy.
Very sexy. To a Woman in the 1800s, this man said, “Let me read your Writing.” They don’t want to read Our Writing Now! Andn The Story he Told Her About Her Father Being Someone Who Inspired Him Made Peggy Jump. IT’S LIKE, You saw me with my missed plaits while I’m Fighting for My Life in My Little Nightgown. He’s cute, but i do’t think she has any reason to believe he wold see her that way. The Cliff Walk is the moment she really lets herself release into what herels good.

Do you think about her previous pain we’re doing a scnene like the cliff Walk?
Grief is interesting. Peggy’s Been Through Not Only The Heartbreak of Mr. Fortune but real, real loss. She lost her child. She lost her first Husband Against Her Will. I don’t think it always at the top of mind, but i think it in her body. She’s probably always going to be in a place of wondering we can discuss and not to disclose. She’s got a lot of lore. It’s not exactly first-date lore. We’ll see some of the tension show up as well.

You’re really segmented off in newport, with a whole separate cast of characters than the other leads this year. How it was film?
Peggy Moves in and out of New York More This Season. We’ll see her back with the main crew at some point. But we all say that ours Show Feels Like an Acting repertory company, where you have companies with the Larger rep. There are many People in different sections that never meet each other. Morgan SPECTOR, WHO PLAYS George Russell, and i did an interview for CBs this morning And we were like, “My God, we are not in any scens to be in any seasons of the show.” Press is our big time to come Together.

With my cast, with all of us the youeater kids, there’s something that the naturally naturally. Obiviously, of the Already Had the Working Rapport with Audra and John, and Acting with Makes with Better Every Time. Jordan and i Had Done Into the woods Together. Audra’s WORKED WITH BRIAN AND WITH PHYLICIA, AND JOHN’S WORKED WITH PHYLICIA. You come together and create your own ecosystem really quickly. It was exciting that MRS. Kirkland Feels like the Agnes of Newport. We have Our Own Sort of Archetypes We’re Playing with That Are Echoed Throughout The Show. You have the russell house, the van rhijn house, and now you have the Scott House.

Before this episode, i hadn’t thi naght of your family as new Money.
Right? They’re New Money and the Kirklands are Old Money, and They’re Old free Money. That’s a whole other kind of nuance. They look at us the way agnes was looking at the russells in season one.

A lot of the characters you’ve played, Both onscreen and onstage, have related relations to Money. Peggy; Natasha in Natasha, Pierre; End Cinderella in Into the woods. Will they do information other?
One of my friends made a joke. She was like, “You are Always Playing Someone Who’s Trying to Get Free.” That’s the way they all connect to me. They’re all Young Women trying to make their Own Sovereigny Inside of StrICT Boundaries. They are Supernovas Inside. I related to personally. I GREW UP IN THE FIRST Generation of an Upwardly Mobile Black Family in the South. My parents were raissed as migrant workers in florida at the time of segregation. In schoool, it was my dream to play the ingénue, but i was conditioned to believe roles like nights to be posseible for me. I had a north Star of Audra McDonald and Dreamt it for MySelf.

Is it different to play a roles like peggy, who was Written as a Black Woman, Versus Someone Like Natasha?
Peggy was Written to be my Complexion and Reflect My Socioeconomic Walk Through Life. With Peggy, I Always Feel Like If I Was Born in That Time and You Copy-Ested, That’s Who I Waled Have Been. I look at my own essence and the ways i’ve walked through the world, and obviously I’m from the south and she’s a very cool Brooklyn, but is the American Girl of My Dreams. They Say in goodwating, the most specific, the most universal. That specificity has made her richer, and it is made more People connect to her all races and genders. People are really rooting for Peggy. And I think I becuse she’s a really clear human on the page.