Cynthia Nixon, the New York-born actress known for 'Sex and the City' and a Broadway career that began when she was 14, returns in the fourth season of 'The Gilded Age,' which premieres Monday on HBO Max. The drama examines changes among the upper class during the late 19th-century Gilded Age, a period of intense industrial and economic growth.
In the series, Nixon plays Ada, who when introduced allowed her sister to speak for her. Nixon says the character has been transformed: Ada fell in love, married, was widowed and inherited a fortune. That money helped her understand that her opinion matters, although she still makes mistakes. Ada used her new power and her old kindness to blackmail the staff and to legislate morality through alcohol prohibition, and she has learned that being a woman with resources carries responsibility. According to Nixon, Ada has realized she is the protagonist of her own life after thinking that living meant staying in the background and helping others.
In the eight new episodes, Ada begins to separate from Agnes: she sets boundaries and stands up to her from a place of kindness. Nixon describes it as a sign of maturity to put limits on someone to whom you were so tied without having to cry or shout.
Nixon sees unsettling parallels between the Gilded Age and the present. She says the tycoons who appear from nowhere are disturbingly recognizable: they may be intelligent, but they are extremely ruthless, and that is how they reached the top. The rich of the Gilded Age and those of today, she argues, do not think about what is best for everyone; they calculate only how to gain more money and power, and people elbow one another to get close to them. When there is so much inequality, with fortunes living amid abundance and devastating poverty, she says, you have to know that things are not right and something must change.
The series gives space to realities such as a gay man or a Black woman without victimizing them and with a gaze that is plausible for the historical context. Asked what other reality she would like to see, Nixon points to the working conditions of factory workers. Protests have been seen through George Russell, who wanted to stop them, she notes, but she would like more of that world. She acknowledges that the appeal of the series is showing the opulence of the richest, but she would like to know the poverty of those who built the Gilded Age.
The cast is huge, with more than 30 actors. Nixon says there is pressure when acting in such a large series, but the cast takes care of one another and admires one another. Feeling comfortable and safe is vital to give everything as an actress, she says, because the best performances come from wild ideas: they can turn out terrible or great, but the important thing is to feel the trust of colleagues in order to explore. The downside of being so many is that many are isolated, she adds: she never coincides with Audra McDonald, and now that Jack no longer serves in Ada's house, she no longer sees Ben Ahlers.
Nixon has been with the show for six years and says she loves coinciding with younger actors with so much potential. She has watched them grow personally, professionally and artistically; many were almost making their debut when filming began, and seeing them gain confidence and talent has been beautiful, like watching a flower open. Asked which other character she would play for a day, she chooses one of the women with fewer scruples: Bertha Russell or Enid, now that Enid has married Oscar, Ada's nephew. Ada is so good, Nixon says, that it would be fun to play someone less virtuous.
Sources: La Vanguardia.