Christine Baranski puts in the work. The 16-time Emmy nominee, up for her latest trophy as supporting actress in a drama for The Gilded Age, is spending her summer filming the HBO series’ third season shrouded in all the stifling accoutrements that the period piece requires.
During a day off from production, the actress emphasized that she’ll happily suffer for art. But Baranski, who’ll also soon star in season two of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers alongside Nicole Kidman, was quick to think of sets with more liberating costumes. Namely, Mamma Mia! The musical adaptation of the Abba songbook spawned a movie, a sequel and, most recently, talk of No. 3. Baranski confirmed she’s dined with franchise lead Judy Craymer, and things are in the works and a proposed story is in place. “We’ll all be on some fabulous Greek or Croatian island having a blast,” says Baranski. “I hope.”
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In the meantime, the actress has a full plate, which she discussed while theorizing about how former alter ego Diane Lockhart (The Good Wife/The Good Fight) would be reveling in the first weeks of Kamala Harris’ surprise bid for the White House.
How’s your summer? Are you staying cool while shooting in your Victorian-era layers?
Oh my God. The other day, we were shooting in Troy, New York — in the minuscule parlor of this old townhouse. There was just enough room for a little settee and two chairs. Cynthia [Nixon] and I had this scene where, once again, our characters are talking about money and who now pays the bills. I was in possibly the heaviest costume I’ve ever worn on The Gilded Age. And that’s saying a lot. I’ve worn things that feel like your grandmother’s curtains. It was like wearing a velvet sofa.
Comfortable!
Now mind you, it was stunningly beautiful. But it had a high collar with lace, so it was scratchy. Suffice to say it was I was also wearing a very tall hat. We had a lightning storm, so all the equipment — everything! — had to shut down. We just sat there for about an hour, no air conditioning, waiting for production to resume. This is hardly a complaint. I was hoping we’d have a third season, because the second season was so much improved over the first.
There did seem to be a lot more chatter around the show. Why do you think that the second season clicked?
The first season, there were so many new characters that had to be introduced. You couldn’t put them in severe conflict until you knew who they were and what their world was. I, of course, had to almost single-handedly represent the old-money portion of society, so I found a lot of my dialogue was expositional in nature. There was just a lot of groundwork to lay, but once the audience clued in to it, things could then really move forward. You have to earn the right to kick into high gear with a drama.
When did you realize you’d earned that right?
One of my colleagues wore a T-shirt that had three of my faces, as Agnes, on it with a quote that I said on the show. “Heads have rolled for less.” If you can make it onto a T-shirt that’s being worn at a gay pride parade, which these were in Los Angeles, then you’ve entered the culture. You’re part of the conversation. You’re trending.
You’re part of a very large cast. Who would you like to share more scenes with?
I’m always saying to Carrie Coon, “Are we ever going to be in a room together?” I think we’ve only exchanged nods from a distance. Two of the juiciest characters have never really had scenes together because their worlds are so different. I’d love to have a scene with [Morgan Spector]. Fortunately, this season I have a bit with his son on the show [Harry Richardson], whom I just adore — the actor and the character.
What’s one lesson to take away from this show?
We’re still seeing the aftershocks of what this kind of money does in a society. We now have robber barons who are freaking billionaires. They are colonizing outer space and taking over media companies. Elon Musk is at liberty to spread disinformation, just because he’s rich and powerful and wants to do it.
Thank you for giving me my segue into politics. This past summer — the debate, the assassination attempt, Biden stepping down and the left rallying around Kamala Harris — does it make you wonder how Diane Lockhart would react to all this? You were able to metabolize current events through that character for so many years.
Part of my brain will always operate as Diane Lockhart. I carry her. And I often email [The Good Fight/The Good Wife co-creator] Michelle King. I emailed her when the Supreme Court came down with the decision of immunity for the president. We warned everybody on The Good Fight that the guardrails were coming off — and now they’re off! I wish that Paramount+ would repromote all of the six years of the show, because it was so prescient and so about living through the nightmare of Trump. And it ends with Liz [Audra McDonald] and Diane looking at Trump, going down on the escalator again, announcing that he’s running. But it would’ve been extraordinarily fun to remain in that world. Maybe the season seven or eight finale would be Diane watching the inauguration of Kamala Harris with a big smile on her face.
Diane would have been all in on Kamala.
I often view American politics thinking, “What despair Diane would’ve been suffering.” And yet, in the last few weeks, like so many people, I’m feeling this incredible inhalation of fresh air and optimism. Wow, a woman! Let’s do this. I emailed Audra immediately when I saw Harris’ first address to the campaign staff and said, “Let’s do whatever we can do to make this happen.”
Do you have any plans to return to the theater?
Everybody asks me that. I can’t find a window, because theater requires so much time. Maybe I could do a three-month run? Even that would require five months of my time. You have to know well enough in advance so that you schedule it. Then, suddenly Gilded Age gets picked up. And I didn’t know Nine Perfect Strangers would happen. It’s the erratic nature of work. But I’ve still got time. I love watching theater. Tonight I’m going to see Oh, Mary with King Princess, my new best friend.
The King Princess?
She’s in Nine Perfect Strangers. It’s her acting debut, and she’s absolutely fantastic. We just hit it off. So, she’s my new young pal, and we went to see Merrily We Roll Along together.
Where did you film Nine Perfect Strangers?
Munich, most of the time, and some in the Austrian Alps. It takes place in an old-world spa that was a sanitarium for famous artists. It’s landscape p*rn! We shot for six months, and it was all systems go as soon as the strike ended. Nicole owed a lot of work from another series, so she wasn’t available until weeks later, so we were shooting without her in January. The strike really had an insane impact on everything. We pretty much gave up on the hope that The Gilded Age would get renewed. Everybody was pulling back, and Gilded is an extremely expensive show to produce. I’m so happy that we got to come back, because we are such a close group. So many theater actors. And we’re willing to suffer any discomfort in corsets and the lack of AC.
Before I let you go: What do you know about Mamma Mia 3?
I was in London with [producer] Judy Craymer at our favorite watering hole, she is planning Mamma Mia 3. She gave me the narrative plotline of how it’s going to happen. That’s all I can say! But, it’s not like, “Oh, I wish it could happen!” Judy Craymer makes things happen. She made number two happen, and it was a phenomenal hit. I wouldn’t put it past Judy Craymer to get everybody back together.
And it probably won’t be difficult to get people in the theaters.
It’s just the kind of movie that makes people happy. Witnessing how much people are showing up for these Democratic campaign rallies now, there’s a lot of smiles, a lot of laughter. People are drawn to happiness and to joy, not doom and gloom. Mamma Mia made so many millions of people around the world happy. Is it a little dumb, a little campy? That’s part of its charm. When I’m in Europe, I can’t tell you how many little girls want to be photographed with Tanya. It troubles me a little, that Tanya’s their favorite character. (Laughs.) But, hey, we’re always attracted to that kind of snappy, sexy lady. Maybe we can get Kamala to use one of the Abba songs?
