The Gilded Age, Julian Fellowes’ much-awaited historical drama, is now streaming on Hotstar on Disney+ two days after it aired on HBO in the United States.
In the 1880s New York City, an area that had become a financial center for post-Civil War America and had become a playground for ‘robber barons’ who looted as well as created wealth, the series stars a stellar cast.
There are many famous actors on this show, including Christine Baransky, who is a 15-time Primetime Emmy-nominated for her role as Dutch-American socialite Agnes van Rhijn, a proud member of the old moneyed elite who is dying off. Cynthia Nixon is still remembered as Miranda Hobbes from ‘Sex and The City’.
Supporting them are Carrie Coon, most recently seen in ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’; actor and singer Denée Ayana Benton, who plays Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway production of ‘Hamilton’; Meryl Streep and sculptor Don Gummer’s daughter, Louisa Jacobson Gummer; and ‘Homeland’ alum Morgan Spector, who plays the classic ‘robber baron’ — a railroad developer who attempts to derail the old economic order (his famous line in the opening episode — “I may be a bastard, but you are a fool” — echoes the brashness of his class).
In 1873, Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner published the first novel with the phrase, The Gilded Age. This novel was a vicious satire on materialism, corruption, and a lack of social and economic freedom that had seenp into America after the Civil War. It was the first novel to be co-written by Mark Twain and a third writer.
With Julian Fellowes’ usual knack for blending humor and social commentary with riveting drama, ‘The Gilded Age’ is a fascinating drama with numerous characters and grand settings depicting historical events.