Casting: High Society Shakeup: The Gilded Age Season 4 Promotes Fan Favorites and Recruits Hollywood Royalty

High Society Shakeup: The Gilded Age Season 4 Promotes Fan Favorites and Recruits Hollywood Royalty

Put on your finest corset and prepare your most devastating side-eye, because the social calendar for The Gilded Age Season 4 is officially filling up. While the Russell and van Rhijn households are busy sharpening their metaphorical (and perhaps literal) knives, HBO has decided to promote some familiar faces and invite new blood to the most expensive playground in 1880s New York.

In a move that proves the showrunners actually listen to the fans at least when they aren't busy obsessing over Victorian wallpaper, Jordan Donica and Ashlie Atkinson have been bumped to series regulars. Joining them in the recurring ranks are heavyweights Dennis Haysbert and Maggie Kuntz, ensuring that the drama remains as thick as Bertha Russell’s velvet drapes.

The New Main Players: Dr. Kirkland and the Life of the Party

Let’s be honest: we all knew Jordan Donica’s Dr. William Kirkland was going places the moment he laid eyes on Peggy Scott. Following that swoon-worthy Season 3 finale proposal, Donica’s promotion to series regular is less of a surprise and more of a victory lap. We can expect plenty of tension as Peggy balances her journalistic ambitions with the expectations of the Kirkland family, who, let’s face it, make the Astors look laid back.

Then there is Ashlie Atkinson. Her portrayal of the real-life socialite Mamie Fish has been a breath of fresh, slightly chaotic air in a show that occasionally takes its soup spoons too seriously. Promoting Mamie to a series regular means more eccentric parties, more cutting wit, and hopefully, more scenes where she makes the old money crowd extremely uncomfortable.

Fresh Faces in the 400

The recurring cast is getting a massive injection of talent, starting with Dennis Haysbert. Known for a voice so deep it could vibrate the foundations of a Newport "cottage," Haysbert joins as Dr. Reginald Harris. As a mentor to William Kirkland, he’ll be bringing some gravitas to the Freedman’s Hospital storyline, likely reminding everyone that while the Russells are fighting over opera boxes, there’s actual history happening outside.

Maggie Kuntz is also joining the fray as Fiona Summers, a "free-spirited" cousin to the Astor clan. In Gilded Age speak, "free-spirited" usually means she’s about to cause a scandal that will keep Mrs. Astor up at night clutching her pearls. We’re here for it.

With a confirmed two-year time jump, Season 4 is clearly moving the needle toward the turn of the century. The addition of Neal Huff as John D. Rockefeller and Bonnie Milligan as the editor of The Ladies' Home Journal suggests the show is leaning harder into the intersection of massive wealth and the burgeoning power of the press.

For the latest updates on production and more deep dives into the wardrobes of the 1%, keep your browsers locked on The TV Cave. We’ll be here, tea in hand, waiting for the first trailer to drop.