The culture clash will continue in Season 4 of Julian Fellowes’ HBO period drama The Gilded Age, based on the turn-of-the-century time period in America that lasted between 1870 and 1900. Some familiar faces have been promoted to series regulars since Season 3, and some new faces are joining the cast to play big-name historical characters, among other new roles for the large ensemble.
When will The Gilded Age Season 4 come out?
The fourth season will premiere Sunday, November 1 in the 9p.m. ET and PT slot on HBO Max. A full trailer was released mid-October, and a teaser was unveiled alongside the fourth season’s release date at the end of August 2025. The show’s fourth season has wrapped production, and star Carrie Coon posted the news on her Instagram story. The Gilded Age’s fourth season will have a total of 8 episodes.
Who are the new and returning characters?
Taylor Trensch (Bat Boy: The Musical), James Scully (You), Dennis Haysbert (24), Maggie Kuntz (John Proctor is the Villain), Neal Huff (Mare of Easttown), and Tony Award-winner Bonnie Milligan (Search Party) are joining the Season 4 cast in recurring roles. Jim Gaffigan (Chappaquiddick), Dallas Roberts (Walk the Line), Elizabeth Marvel (Presumed Innocent), and Andrew Burnap (Snow White) have joined as guest stars.
Gaffigan will play Grover Cleveland, the 22nd President of the United States, who comes to New York to curry favor with the elite class. Roberts will portray Daniel Manning, a seasoned politician and Secretary of the Treasury under President Grover Cleveland. Marvel will play Nurse Virginia Saville, a kind nurse who works at the Neighborhood Settlement House in the Lower East Side. Burnap will portray Porter, a young gentleman of Society with an Ivy League education and money to invest in exciting new ventures.
Jordan Donica, who plays Dr. William Kirkland, and Ashlie Atkinson, who portrays Mamie Fish, have been upped to series regulars for the upcoming fourth season. Kelley Curran, who plays Enid Winterton — formerly known as Turner when she served as Bertha’s (Carrie Coon) maid, has also been promoted to series regular. Series regulars since Season 1 include Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Denee Benton, Cynthia Nixon, Christine Baranski, Harry Richardson, Blake Ritson, Taissa Farmiga, and Audra McDonald, who are all set to return. George Russell’s secretary Richard Clay (Patrick Page) and New York Globe publisher T. Thomas Fortune (Sullivan Jones), will not appear in the rotation of Season 4, and viewers have probably seen the last of Ward McAllister (Nathan Lane).
What happened in Season 3?
Donica’s character, Dr. Kirkland, proposed to Peggy Scott (Benton) in a happy, joyful moment at the end of Season 3. In contrast, George (Spector) and Bertha hit some rough waters in their marriage. This was largely due to Bertha’s rolling full steam ahead by forcing their daughter Gladys (Farmiga) into an arranged marriage. George felt he had no control and was angered by Bertha not wanting her daughter to have a shot at a love match. George is upset on Gladys’s behalf; however, she married the Duke of Buckingham and ended up falling in love with him. Bertha’s sister Monica (Merritt Wever) came to town for the wedding, much to the former’s chagrin.
The Russells’ eldest, Larry Russell (Harry Richardson), courted Marian (Louisa Jacobson) all season, only to have what they built fall apart. After Larry and Marian became engaged, the former secretly spent time at a House of Ill Repute, aka a brothel, with Jack Trotter (Ben Ahlers). Instead of telling his beloved the truth about where he was, he lied and almost irrevocably broke their union. Meanwhile, Larry and Jack sold the clock patent, allowing the latter to move out of the van Rhijn household and buy a nice home of his own with staff. Thanks to Larry’s testimony, Marian gets a better understanding of his and Larry’s doings on that fateful night, and attempts to mend fences.
After the loss of a true love, Oscar’s being gay is exposed to his family, whether he was ready for them to know or not. Neither his mother, Agnes (Christine Baranski), nor his aunt Ada (Cynthia Nixon) dared speak the words out loud, but there was an understanding, and he received full support from his cousin Marian. It is teased by the end of Season 3 that Oscar is seriously considering taking a wife, Turner. By season’s end, Bertha was confronted with reality: her husband George was toying with the idea of divorce after he was shot and nearly died, becoming disinterested in playing a role in Bertha’s schemes.
Bertha helped influence a shift in social norms by persuading Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy), whose daughter Charlotte (Hannah Shealy) had recently uncoupled from her husband, to welcome divorced women like Charlotte and Aurora Fayne (Kelli O’Hara) to galas and high society social events.
What is Season 4 about?
The official Season 4 logline reads, “Bertha Russell changed Society at a cost. Now, her family must reckon with the consequences as Agnes van Rhijn seizes an opportunity to regain her position. Meanwhile, Marian forges a new path for herself and Peggy works to be accepted by her future in-laws. In this new era, you must be careful what you wish for.”
The Gilded Age is a co-production between HBO and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group. Julian Fellowes is the show’s creator, writer, and executive producer and Sonja Warfield is writer and EP. Gareth Neame, David Crockett, director Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Kate Churchill, Bob Greenblatt, and writer Elaine Aronson also serve as executive producers. Erica Dunbar is historical consultant and co-executive producer. Co-exec producers also include writer Davita Scarlett and Holly Rymon. Bernie Telsey and Adam Caldwell from the Telsey Office served as casting directors.
