Filming "The Gilded Age" in Central Park

For years, I’d been anticipating Julian Fellowes’ series about the gilded era in NYC. Originally, it was going to be a prequel to “Downton Abbey,” centering around Cora Crawley’s American family. Following Consuelo Vanderbilt’s “successful” marriage to the Duke of Marlborough, many heiresses went to Europe in the hopes of finding a titled man short on cash. Cora Levinson was lucky—when she married Robert Crawley and became the Countess of Grantham, they fell in love. Not so, famously, for Consuelo Vanderbilt.

Originally developed for NBC in 2018, it was moved to HBO—I assume somewhere in the transition Fellowes decided to create an entirely new family to center the story around. As described by HBO: “The Gilded Age begins in 1882 with young Marian Brook moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her thoroughly old-money aunts, Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook.

Accompanied by Peggy Scott, an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old-money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George and Bertha Russell. Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path?”

It just so happens that my nephew was a Costume Production Assistant on the show. He called me one day to say that it was filming a few blocks away from where I live, so naturally, I raced over. The scene I saw was in the second episode, called, “Money Isn’t Everything”. Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) is talking to Gladys Russell (Taissa Farmiga), while Gladys’s chaperone, Turner (Kelley Curran), looks on. Marian then has a conversation with Tom Raikes (Thonas Cocquerel), a lawyer who has designs on Marian.

I was fascinated by the detail of all these extras— many of whom weren’t caught on the final print. And, though it looks like fun, I have to say that for April, it was SUPER HOT and I really felt for the actors and extras who had to stand around in heavy clothes for hours. Also, since this was in the midst of COVID, the crew were all wearing masks.

Here, I was more focused on the actors. Note that when Thomas Cocquerel kisses Louisa Jacobson’s hand, he removes his glove and then drops it. I’d assumed it was part of the story, but it was just an efficient of dealing with it instead of shoving it in his pocket.

For those interested in the amazing costumes designed by Kaiser Walicka-Maimone, my nephew sent me some sneak peeks. (I’m assuming it’s fine to show these since the show is now on the air).

Love the bumble-bee details.

New episodes of “The Gilded Age” air on Monday nights on HBO.