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HBO's 19th-century period drama The Gilded Age keeps growing, with its third season currently streaming.
Among the most well-known cast additions in this season is Phylicia Rashad, a veteran actor whose casting has been the subject of much discussion. As confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter last year, Rashad has joined season 3 of The Gilded Age to play a new character named Mrs. Elizabeth Kirkland.
Her arrival is a calculated and historically informed shift in direction for the show's storytelling, placing before our eyes the lives of African-American upper class during the late 1800s. While the social competition of the white upper class in New York has been touched upon in past seasons, season 3 of The Gilded Age tries to depict a more comprehensive representation of American society at that time of revolution.
Phylicia Rashad's character in The Gilded Age Season 3
Phylicia Rashad stars as Mrs. Elizabeth Kirkland, matriarch of a wealthy Black family from Newport, Rhode Island. She is powerful, proud, and completely devoted to preserving her family's legacy. Mrs. Kirkland is a strong-minded woman of respectable social standing, especially in her family. She is bound to be the focal point in assisting or directing the plot of her son, Dr. William Kirkland, portrayed by Jordan Donica.
Where Newport's Gilded Age upper echelons are typically associated with wealthy white families, the Kirklands stand as historically accurate representations of the Black aristocracy of their time.
The Gilded Age Season 3 premiere
Phylicia Rashad has joined the series in season 3 of The Gilded Age.
The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 1 released on Sunday, June 22, 2025, at 9 PM ET/PT on HBO, and it streams simultaneously on Max. New episodes release weekly on every Sunday. The premiere episode was also shown at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 12, 2025.
The Kirkland family and beyond
Mrs. Elizabeth Kirkland is hardly an isolated addition to the cast of the show. Her role is to be a part of a new family, the Kirklands. Season 3 will be explained to center more on their lives, social standing, and relations with current characters.
While the extent of the Kirklands' narrative is still unknown, they are being positioned as a significant narrative addition that will delve into the historical relevance of affluent, educated Black households who made a positive difference in post-Civil War America. The presence of the Kirkland family in The Gilded Age is a result of research and construction with historical accuracy in mind.
Julian Fellowes and the writers of the show have asserted that this is done deliberately. It is a way of transcending the stereotypical portrayals of society during the Gilded Age by adding lesser-known facts about Black achievement, heritage, and communities during the same era.
Intersections with existing characters in The Gilded Age
Although details have not been officially outlined, Mrs. Kirkland's arc will likely intersect that of Denée Benton's Peggy Scott. Peggy is a confident Black author whose own journey in earlier seasons wrestled with family, professional ambitions, and color identity in the South and the North. Even as it is established that the Kirklands and Peggy Scott will be included in a larger narrative about the Black upper class, any ideation concerning mentorship, family connection, or explicit conflict at this juncture is premature.
Dr. William Kirkland, Mrs. Kirkland's son, can be the bridge between the two storylines. Jordan Donica brings the character to life as a dynamic and grounded figure in his mother's life. How and when he or Mrs. Kirkland becomes directly involved in Peggy's life is something the show will explore throughout season 3.
The historical background of the Kirklands in The Gilded Age
The portrayal of the Kirkland family is supported by a reality of historical precedent. African-American families of note, particularly in urban societies like Newport, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., existed in the Gilded Age with academic attainment, homeownership, professional success, and cultural status. But they have been left out largely from mainstream accounts of the time.
By casting the Kirklands among its ensemble of characters, The Gilded Age is calling back to an uncomfortable reality all too often glossed over by historical fiction: that white families were not the only keepers of power and standing in America in the 19th century. Elites in black society did exist at that time, and their existence is equally vital to understanding the social hierarchy, class divisions, and changing identity of the United States during those times.
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