Will ‘Gilded Age’ Recreate Vanderbilt Divorce With George & Bertha? Carrie Coon Weighs In

The Gilded Age Season 3 threw George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha Russell’s (Carrie Coon) marriage into the fire in its final seconds, leaving fans wondering if the beloved couple is headed for divorce. History doesn’t quell these fears.

The Russells are loosely inspired by the Vanderbilt family, and while there are pieces of historic figures such as Jay Gould and J.P. Morgan thrown into the inspiration mix, Season 3 drew a lot of parallels between Gladys Russell (Taissa Farmiga) and Consuelo Vanderbilt via the arranged marriage storyline.

Consuelo’s parents, Alva and William Vanderbilt, famously got divorced. Will Julian Fellowes sow this same social chaos with George and Bertha in Season 4? TV Insider connected with the stars of The Gilded Age at a For Your Consideration event in New York on Tuesday, November 18, and we asked Coon to weigh in on this topic.

Coon and other stars confirmed that they have not seen any scripts for The Gilded Age Season 4 yet, but Cynthia Nixon says, “I’m hearing that we’ll be getting the first three [scripts] very soon, so that’s exciting.” While they don’t know what Fellowes and Sonja Warfield have up their sleeves in terms of plot, Coon has a take on George and Bertha’s future.

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“We haven’t followed the [Vanderbilt] storyline yet, not to a T, so I’m hopeful,” Coon tells TV Insider. “Also, Bertha is so tenacious. She never gives up. If she wants George back, that’s what she’s going to get.”

George left Bertha over her handling of Gladys’ arranged marriage to Hector, Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb). Quite unexpectedly for Gladys and George, a love match started to form between the Duke and Duchess, and it bloomed with Bertha’s help after she visited her daughter in England and encouraged her to assert her dominance as the lady of the house over her sister-in-law, Sarah (Hattie Morahan).

Gladys revealed that she was pregnant with her first child to Bertha just moments after George left her, making for a double-whammy cliffhanger in the finale. Bertha’s personal life has never been under more of a threat, but if there’s one thing that we’ve learned in The Gilded Age, it’s to doubt Bertha Russell at your own peril.

The Gilded Age, Season 4 Premiere, TBA, HBO