The Denver Gazette

CHRISTINE BARANSKI

Why did she wait until her 40s to go to Hollywood? Visit Parade.com/baranski to find out.

The star of The Good Fight, 69, segues from her role as modern liberal Diane Lockhart to very conservative Agnes van Rhijn in The Gilded Age (Jan. 24 on HBO and HBO Max). Set in the 1880s, The Gilded Age (created by Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes) explores the socioeconomic differences of the era, with Agnes, a wealthy widow in Manhattan, taking in her penniless niece following the death of her father and becoming embroiled in a social war with her nouveau riche neighbors.

What type of drama is going to be played out? For Agnes, it’s rather like a Trump Tower is being erected directly across the street from her. She’s justified in being grumpy because you can imagine how much noise there is. She has a lot of withering remarks about how the new people have no manners and are not worth being acknowledged. So there’s a lot there for future enjoyment to watch the clashes of the old and the new.

Are there challenges in playing Agnes? It’s not just wearing a corset and lots of fabric, and how you move and how you speak, but Agnes has a very particular sense of the world. Her boundaries are very clear. Her manners are very crystalline in how she conducts herself and what she expects.

You’ve been playing Diane Lockhart since 2009, first in The Good Wife and now in The Good Fight. Is there still joy in playing her? The joy is that she’s a feminist living in 2022, and the writing is so good that my conflicts always are what’s happening in the world. I wake up and read the news, and often what I’m playing in the show is a reflection of what I’ve read.

Your daughter Lily is following in your footsteps as an actress. What was your advice? I gave her practical advice to be kind, to stay above the fray, stay above the gossip. The safest place is the higher ground. If you’re kind, gracious and professional, that makes as big an impression as your talent. Your reputation precedes you and it follows you out the door.

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2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.denvergazette.com/article/282707640441016

The Gazette, Colorado Springs