Christine Baranski & Cynthia Nixon on Their Old Money Sisters of ‘The Gilded Age’ (VIDEO)

In the period drama, The Gilded Age (from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes) set in booming late 19^th Century New York City, award-winning actresses Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon delight as old money sisters: steely, smart widow Agnes van Rhijn and sweet, never-married Ada Brook.

The ladies’ lives change when they take in their penniless niece Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), a young woman who isn’t afraid to mingle with the showy new money family across the street. Each aunt approaches her newfound guardianship in a distinctly different way.

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Agnes is deeply concerned for Marian’s reputation, without which she could end up unmarried and destitute. “Without economic leverage or security, a woman is dead. You’re on the margin. There’s nothing worse in that era,” says Baranski whose character endured a miserable marriage in exchange for financial security.

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Ada, however, “has so much love for no place for it to go,” Nixon says. “It is perhaps the greatest thing that has ever happened to Ada, that she might have this surrogate daughter to shepherd in a way she was not shepherded.”

The Gilded Age, Series Premiere, Monday, January 24, 9/8c, HBO