Avid fans of high society will immediately recognize the dazzling and dazzling characters of the "Gilded Age," a long-running historical drama created by "Downton Abbey" creator Julian Ferros that premiered at HBO on Monday. But there is one notable exception.
In a dizzying white environment, the social climbing "wife," the snarky noblewoman, the boring heiress, the buzzing staff, and an open-eyed country cousin is Peggy Scott, an ambitious young black woman who shines rather than shrinks.
In the first episode, Scott, played by actress Denée Benton, arrives in the new gilded Manhattan by train with marianne Brooke (Luisa Jacobson), the fishman in the series. On the screen, Peggy's journey is fairly fast. Off-screen, it took her 10 years, two networks, at least four black women and a global pandemic to get here.
