Christine Baranski’s mother was a Polish immigrant who survived the Great Depression and spent years working at an air conditioner factory in Buffalo, New York. She was a far cry from Baranski’s character on Julian Fellowes’ HBO drama “The Gilded Age,” the haughty, imperious, old-money Agnes van Rhijn. But in an interview with Variety ’s Awards Circuit podcast, Baranski says she took inspiration from her parent in bringing Agnes to life, a performance that’s now Emmy-nominated in one of six nods for the series’ Season 2 — and the sixteenth of Baranski’s illustrious career.
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“I watched a tough lady move through life,” Baranski recalls. “They can be very grouchy and very strong and very controlling, but they get the job done.” Agnes herself endured what’s implied to be a long, unhappy marriage in order to provide for her family, including younger sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon) and niece Marian (Louisa Jacobson). She’s also a rigid enforcer of her era’s social order, scoffing at breaches of etiquette and peering down her nose at new money upstarts like her new neighbors, industrialist George Russell (Morgan Spector) and his wife Bertha (Carrie Coon).
This quality makes Agnes what Baranski calls “a walking declarative sentence”: the source of the scripts’ most withering lines and a true successor to Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess, the scene-stealer of Fellowes’ previous hit “Downton Abbey.” “Julian loves those female characters,” Baranski observes. “He respects them. He gives them a sense of humor and resiliency.”
For the Awards Circuit Podcast, Baranski discussed “The Gilded Age,” whether she’ll revisit her “The Good Wife”/”The Good Fight” character and whether she’s eager for more “Mamma Mia.” Listen below!
In Season 2 of “The Gilded Age,” Baranski’s character Agnes softens a bit, accepting Ada’s marriage to the kind-hearted reverend Luke (Robert Sean Leonard) after her initial fierce resistance and then comforting her sister after Luke’s sudden death.
Baranski compares the fictional siblings’ relationship to classic sitcom “The Odd Couple.” (She’ll often start humming the theme song on set.) In real life, though, she’s known Nixon since the two co-starred as mother and daughter in a production of Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing.” “I remember Cynthia putting her hand on my belly to listen to my firstborn’s heartbeat,” Baranski says. “That’s how touching my memories are of Cynthia.”
The Juilliard alumna has similarly enduring relationships with many members of the cast, which is stacked with fellow theater veterans due to its New York location and beginning production during Broadway’s pandemic hiatus. “It’s like watching my theater career in a revolving door,” she says. “It’s the happiest set. I wish this could go on for 10 years just for the pleasure of everyone’s company.”
Baranski recently said goodbye to Diane Lockhart, the high-powered lawyer she played for nearly 15 years across the procedurals “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight.” Baranski is unsure whether she would revisit the character on an in-universe spinoff like “Elsbeth,” though she still emails with co-creator Michelle King about the kinds of head-spinning current events that would be fodder for the shows.
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“Diane Lockhart still lives in my heart when I watch the news and when I take in what’s going on in the world — that incredible Joan of Arc thing she had of believing in the world and being fiercely idealistic,” Baranski says. “I will always have a part of me that’s Diane Lockhart, and I’m very grateful because she was far more intelligent and savvy than I am.”
She does note, however, that should Kamala Harris win in November, her inauguration would be a perfect bookend to the opening shot of “The Good Fight,” which saw Diane go slack-jawed at the surprise victory of Donald Trump.
Baranski is more enthusiastic about the possibility of reuniting with the cast of “Mamma Mia!,” the ABBA jukebox musical turned film series spearheaded by producer Judy Craymer. She’s even made her own elevator pitch for a potential sequel idea to Craymer and others. “Wouldn’t it be fun if we all just met on an island in Greece or Croatia and we all spent a couple weeks together, just hanging out, eating and singing all the songs and getting up and telling stories?” she asks. “It would be something of a — I don’t want to say reality show, but it would be like a celebration of the making of ‘Mamma Mia!’”
Agnes would never approve of anything so tawdry as a reality show, so we agree that “docuseries” will have to do.
Also on this episode, “Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson, who’s Emmy nominated for outstanding comedy actress and comedy writing, and the show’s Randall Einhorn, up for comedy directing, joined the podcast to talk about Season 3 of “Abbott Elementary” (also up for outstanding comedy).
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta, Jenelle Riley and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode, “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts.
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