When HBO premiered “The Gilded Age” in 2022, the period drama sparked early comparisons to Julian Fellowes’ earlier hit, “Downton Abbey,” which centered almost exclusively on white British aristocracy. However, as the series, created and written by Fellowes, has progressed, its scope has broadened, expanding to include the often-overlooked stories of Black Americans during the Gilded Age.
According to The New York Times, the show’s expanded narrative is largely thanks to the contributions of acclaimed historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar, who serves as its historical consultant, and actress Deneé Benton, who plays Peggy Scott—an ambitious journalist, Agnes van Rhijn’s secretary, and a member of Brooklyn’s Black upper-middle class.
As Sonja Warfield, who shares showrunner responsibility with Fellowes, told the outlet, the addition of Phylicia Rashad as Elizabeth Kirkland, in addition to Benton’s Scott and her mother, Dorothy, played by Audra McDonald, has allowed for a greater complexity of portrayals that align with the histories of Black upper-class families in New England and New York City.
Showing conflict within the black bourgeoisie family is great because it’s a real issue. Peggy father not being born free & Dr. Kirkland mom feeling they are LESS THAN her family who had generational freedom shows her judgmental ways.
— Jay Lee's Corner on YouTube (@JayLeesCorner) July 7, 2025
And she’s colorist
#TheGildedAge pic.twitter.com/TwK3xbA256
“Because it’s so small, what was interesting about Newport in that time period was that Black and white communities mixed more than they did in other areas,” Warfield said. “The school system was, in fact, integrated. If you were Black or white, you could have neighbors around the corner from you who were Black or white.”
Mrs. Elizabeth Kirkland gives colorist, sun avoidance, blue vein society, our kind of people, with an elitist attitude. I look forward to seeing where this goes. A spinoff would be worth seeing.
— Bring Back Soul Train Reruns#TheGildedAge S3 E3 pic.twitter.com/30c1us2k6E
(@girlfreend007) July 7, 2025
She continued, “Elizabeth Kirkland is the Mrs. Astor of Black elite society in Newport. So often, when we see Black characters depicted in this time period, it’s just one story, and it’s all in relation to slavery or sharecropping. What people don’t know is that, in fact, these people existed.”
The three actresses, largely considered Black Broadway royalty, also shared thoughts on how their characters connect to the colorist and classist attitudes of both the 1880s and the present day, which they discussed in a June interview with New York Times critic Salamishah Tillet.
Benton noted the similarities between herself and her character, telling Tillet that she feels a close connection to Scott, and also reflected on the work she did with Armstrong Dunbar to convince the show’s creator to expand The Gilded Age’s depiction of Black aristocratic society.
“It makes me emotional to think about how far we’ve come since 2019 with the show. Originally, we were going to watch Peggy walk a very narrow path and see her parents sometimes. And Dr. Erica Dunbar and I were able to be like: “We have an opportunity to show something that’s never been onscreen. We have to widen this lens.” And now we have a robust Black cast on this show. We have Black writers; we have so much richness,” Benton said.
Rashad also noted that the conventions of 1880s society aren’t terribly different from some of today’s social media-driven discussions of colorism, featurism, and other intra-community issues.
“I must say, in growing up, I knew a couple of ladies who were Elizabeths, who didn’t want their children out in the sun and nobody was ever going to be good enough for their son. It happens to people today — if it’s not about color, it’s about something else. People being locked into a past that they didn’t create but that was handed to them,” Rashad told Tillet.
At one point, the women shared a touching exchange that highlighted their mutual respect and Broadway ties. Benton became emotional upon learning McDonald would play her mother, saying, “I didn’t realize tears had started coming out of my face,” and recalling how she studied McDonald’s performances obsessively in her youth. She added, “Audra feels about Ms. Phylicia the way I feel about Audra.”
McDonald followed by reflecting on Rashad’s profound influence, sharing that getting to know her and her family held deep meaning, as Rashad remains a legend, even among fellow icons.
RELATED CONTENT: Audra McDonald Becomes Most Tony-Nominated Performer In Broadway History
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