Another 'Gilded Age' character is ready for her 'Bertha era' to start

As Denée Benton puts it, the third season of “The Gilded Age” saw the show’s “multiverse expand.”

Benton plays Peggy Scott on the HBO drama, set in New York high society in the late 1800s. Season 3 saw Benton’s Peggy find love with Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica), much to the chagrin of William’s snooty mother, Elizabeth (Phylicia Rashad) — who disapproves of the Scott family for many reasons, including their dark skin and the fact that Peggy’s dad is a pharmacist without generational wealth. Telling the story of the Black elite living in Newport, R.I., and the classism and colorism within that community was vitally important.

“The more we explore what really went on in that time, the more we can make Black characters in television, film and theater fully three-dimensional,” says