How to Get Cast on ‘The Gilded Age’

Mimicking the downstairs/upstairs storylines that Fellowes explored on his hit ITV series, “Downton Abbey,” “The Gilded Age” is centered on the divide between the established elite and the newly wealthy in upper-crust Manhattan.

Season 1 follows the feud between two families, the old-money Brooks and the new-money Russells. Following the death of her father, the newly penniless Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) moves to New York City to live with her wealthy aunts, Agnes Van Rhijn (Baranski) and Ada Brook (Nixon). In short order, Marian and her new friend, Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), find themselves thrust into the middle of a culture clash between her aunts and their neighbors. Over the course of the first season, viewers watch Bertha Russell (Coon) and her husband, railroad tycoon George (Morgan Spector), struggle to find their place in high society.

Throughout the series, the battle between old and new money intensifies as social hierarchies in New York are challenged. Season 2 shifts power dynamics within the Van Rhijn household and follows Bertha’s high-stakes Opera War to secure her family’s social standing. Season 3 explores the consequences of that ambition, following a shocking threat to George and the personal cost of their rise to power. 

Season 4 will ultimately see Bertha deal with the consequences of her actions, and Agnes makes a play to regain her place in high society.

The  show’s all-star ensemble includes:

• Cynthia Nixon as Ada Forte
• Christine Baranski as Agnes Van Rhijn
• Carrie Coon as Bertha Russell
• Morgan Spector as George Russell
• Louisa Jacobson as Marian Brook
• Denée Benton as Peggy Scott
• Taissa Farmiga as Gladys Vere, Duchess of Buckingham
• Ben Lamb as Hector Vere, Duke of Buckingham
• Harry Richardson as Larry Russell
• Blake Ritson as Oscar Van Rhijn
• Simon Jones as Mr. Bannister
• Jack Gilpin as Mr. Church
• Ben Ahlers as John “Jack” Trotter
• Kelli O’Hara as Aurora Fane
• Donna Murphy as Caroline Schermerhorn Astor
• Celia Keenan-Bolger as Mrs. Bruce
• Debra Monk as Mrs. Armstrong
• Kristine Nielsen as Mrs. Bauer
• Patrick Page as Richard Clay
• Audra McDonald as Dorothy Scott
• Phylicia Rashad as Elizabeth Kirkland
• Brian Stokes Mitchell as Frederick Kirkland
• Jordan Donica as Dr. William Kirkland
• Sullivan Jones as T. Thomas Fortune
• Erin Wilhelmi as Adelheid Weber
• Ashlie Atkinson as Mamie Fish

Kelley Curran, who’s played Enid “Turner” Winterton since Season 1, will become a series regular on Season 4, as will Donica and Atkinson. 

Jim Gaffigan, Dallas Roberts, Elizabeth Marvel, and Andrew Burnap will join as guest stars. The ensemble also welcomes several new recurring members, including Dennis Haysbert, Taylor Trensch, James Scully, Maggie Kuntz, Neal Huff, and Bonnie Milligan.

Bernard Telsey and Adam Caldwell are the primary casting directors for featured players on “The Gilded Age.” Telsey is known for casting Broadway shows, having worked on hit musicals such as “Hamilton,” “Rent,” and “The Prom.” As for Caldwell, he told the Washington Post that he actively sought to cast stage actors. “That’s long been my goal: to get as many musical theater actors on TV as possible,” he said. “They’re the best-kept secret. I feel like they just have never been given the opportunity.” 

When bringing such a distinct era to life, Telsey told Backstage that actors must bring a certain “poise” to the audition. “Come in with that look. That doesn’t mean you have to have a period costume, but there is a way that one stands and looks in a period piece as opposed to a contemporary piece,” he said. Caldwell added, “A lot of it’s about the language, because so much can be altered with a look. It’s more about how they sound. Do they sound like a millennial with upspeak that doesn’t go away? That’s way more the thing that takes someone out of being believable for this world than the way they look.” 

Grant Wilfley, one of New York’s leading CDs for background work, was also involved in the casting process. His eye was key in supporting the opulent atmosphere established by the show’s costume and set design. “There’s a lot that goes into the selection process,” he told Backstage. “We start by asking if they look right; that is usually the criteria. Are they the right ethnicity? Are they the right period look? Is their hair long enough? For the period projects, do they fit in the sizes [the costume designers] need?”

Like most projects that started production in 2020, the casting process for “The Gilded Age” was heavily influenced by the pandemic. In this case, Fellowes and his team turned their attention to out-of-work Broadway stars whose careers had been put on pause. According to the Washington Post, in Season 1 alone, its regular and recurring cast members held 56 individual Tony Award nominations and 22 wins among them.

The Post also noted it can be difficult for Broadway actors to cross over from stage to screen, but for Keenan-Bolger, the Tony-nominated actor who plays Mrs. Bruce, joining the series was a “godsend” during the industrywide shutdown. “There’s this sense of belonging. But also, nobody took that job for granted,” she said. “It was the hardest audition for drama club that you could ever imagine.”

As Telsey told us, when it comes to transitioning from one medium to another, actors need to be open to any role. “Let’s say you don’t have a lot of television behind you—be willing to take any role,” he explained. “That even goes [for] ‘The Gilded Age.’ You know who that cast is—they’re all Tony nominees, Tony winners—and they’re taking parts smaller than what they’re capable of. Ensemble roles and small roles are great, and [they’re] a way to get into that marketplace. That’s what I would say to a younger actor: There’s no part too small.”

Many stage actors were particularly eager to audition, so much so that they were willing to read without knowing which role they’d be playing. “There were a lot of these people who read more than one role when they came in. And were game and eager to,” Caldwell told Playbill. “We had the luxury of doing that. There are certainly other projects where they would need to be pursued with an offer. But this was at the level where people were really interested and wanted to make sure that they threw their hat in the ring.”

Spector told us his theater background was essential in helping him prepare for and land his leading role. “I don’t know what I would have done without my [stage] training,” he said. “I [studied at] the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, which is very much a classical theater training program. We were taught something that, as soon as I got out of school, I realized was completely obsolete—which was this idea of the American Theater Standard, which is the dialect in which you perform classic plays. If you’re going to do Shakespeare, you do it in American Theater Standard. As soon as I got out of school and started auditioning for things, I realized no one wanted that.”

He added, “[‘The Gilded Age’] is the first time that it’s really come in handy, because that’s…precisely what we’re using to create the period in our speech. I found [that in] Julian’s writing—as easy as it is in some ways because these characters are very well-drawn—there is a technical demand to the language. I have found myself drawing on stuff that I learned in acting school and [from] doing plays.”

Producer-director Michael Engler told the Theatre Times that the casting team took a different approach when assembling the Kirkland family for Season 3. “None of them auditioned. We asked them all to do it based on the work we knew that they were capable of and that we had seen before.” The family includes Rashad, Stokes Mitchell, and Donica, the latter of whom the team saw in action on Broadway.

Caldwell elaborated, “And we were lucky enough that the team had recently been able to see ‘Camelot.’ So they saw Jordan [Donica] in that, which we had cast, and really thought he was fantastic. Clearly a very different kind of part, that version of Lancelot versus this, but they saw different dynamics that he could bring to someone, how what stage presence he had, and so they knew he had the charisma that they were looking for.”

He added, “And then it just worked that…he had done ‘My Fair Lady,’ as well, which is a very different kind of period character than Lancelot, and that probably helped inform them a little bit more about the society element that they [were] looking for in this one.”

“The Gilded Age” Season 4 began filming in Troy, New York, in February, with plans to move on to Newport, Rhode Island, in April 2026. Rhode Island’s Film & TV Office confirmed the news on its Facebook page, though no exact start date was provided.

“The Gilded Age” Season 4 recently issued a call for background actors via Backstage. The team sought nonunion white male actors, aged 18–25, to portray footmen. Those who satisfied physical measurements were then required to attend a fitting on Feb. 3 in Brooklyn with filming to take place on March 17 and 18. Pay was $187 per shoot date, plus a fitting fee.

But that’s not the only time the series cast with us. In late 2024, Grant Wilfley Casting sought background actors aged 18 and older, who were local to the Newport, Rhode Island, area to portray upscale citizens. The pay was set at $176 for 10 hours of work, plus a fitting fee. With plenty of filming still to come, there’s a good chance more calls for local background actors will arise.

In the meantime, we suggest bookmarking our main casting page for updates on the latest opportunities as they become available. And don’t forget to check out our guide on auditioning for HBO Max!

Nixon began acting at a young age. She told us that, back then, she had no delusions about her future success. “My parents were very careful to explain to me that most kid actors don’t become adult actors, so I had that very much in mind,” she said. “I didn’t actually think it was going to happen, but then it just seemed to keep happening!” 

As for Nixon’s advice to her younger self, “I would say, try and trust your instincts more, and be more in the moment. Don’t worry so much, and don’t shy away from things that you’re going to fail at. Failing is not the worst thing. Failing actually can be really valuable.”

While they aren’t quite the most glamorous roles, Wilfley recommends embracing the opportunities that background work has to offer. “Everyone starts somewhere in the industry. Doing background work is a great way [for actors] to start and see what happens on a set, to see their peers actually working on their craft, and to get comfortable and familiar with how a production team works,” the CD told Backstage. “I always tell people starting out who are nonunion actors that it’s a great way to learn about the business and be on a set, but also to be close to the principal actors whom you admire. You witness their craft and career and actually see them work. You can’t learn that in drama class. You learn a lot in drama class, but to actually see it happen in person is a different thing. Always approach it as an observation and a good learning experience.”

Spector, a seasoned stage actor, told us he underwent an adjustment period when transitioning from Broadway to TV. “When I first started working on camera, I had this idea that I just had to hold completely still, and I found it really constraining. Over time, what I’ve learned is that if you’re committed and you’re fully engaged, the camera doesn’t mind,” he said. “You can’t be frenetic; it’s a little easier to be over-the-top on camera. [But] there’s more room to play than I initially thought there was when I first started making that transition.”

Spector also soon realized that a stage actor’s voice is their greatest asset, no matter the medium. “Theater actors have incredibly developed voices,” he said. “If you can figure out a way to play into the mic in an intimate way and use your instrument in the same way with the same range that people do onstage, that can really be an asset…. Somebody like Carrie Coon—she has an amazing, rich, mellifluous voice which she trained onstage.” He added, “Never lose touch with your instinct and your voice as an artist. What makes you valuable on set is your ideas, your voice—the things you bring that nobody else can.”

Using that voice to stand up for yourself is precisely how Rashad made her way from talented stage actor to iconic television star. When she was overlooked for a role after putting in plenty of hard work as an understudy, her mom suggested she recognize her value and leave the production entirely. “I said, ‘But, Mother, you only give your notice when you get another job.’ She said, ‘That’s right, and if you stay there, you may never have another job to go to,’ ” the Tony winner recalled of the moment when she chose to rid herself of those who couldn’t see her potential. 

She added, “It was a very crucial moment; I wanted to be sure that I really spoke the truth of my sentiments without any hint, without any inkling, without the minute presence of arrogance, pride, anger, any of those things. I begged God to sit on my tongue so that only the truth would pass my lips. I said, ‘I know who I am, and I knew who I was before I came. I am not an understudy. I am a leading lady, and it’s time for me to realize myself and my profession.’ ”