Carrie Coon has finally seen Taylor Swift’s impression of Bertha Russell, and she approves. Shown the clip on The Tonight Show on November 4, the Gilded Age star called the pop star’s take on her ruthless social climber “very good” and said it had “the right affectation.”
Coon admitted the impression reached her secondhand at first. “I didn’t see it that night, and then I woke up to thousands of text messages and Instagram,” she told Jimmy Fallon. The show posted her reaction on its Instagram account, putting Swift’s Bertha voice and Coon’s verdict side by side.
“She’s so Bertha”
Coon went further than praise. Asked whether Swift belongs on the HBO drama, she argued that the singer and her character share a temperament. “She’s so Bertha. She’s such an entrepreneur. Bertha would be like Taylor Swift if she was living today,” Coon said.
The comparison holds up better than it first sounds. Bertha is the wife of railroad magnate George Russell, who arrives in 1882 New York with new money and spends three seasons forcing her way past the city’s old families. Her signature campaign was the Opera War of season 2, when she backed the new Metropolitan Opera against Mrs. Astor’s Academy of Music and made the city’s elite pick a side. Swift has spent two decades building a business empire on her own terms, which is the kind of drive Coon was pointing at.
Any Swift cameo is, for now, only Coon’s wish. HBO has announced nothing, though the new season has already shown it likes surprise guests: Matt Damon and David Letterman made uncredited appearances in the season 4 premiere. Badiyaa has followed Swift’s off-stage moments before, including when the Knicks backed her after a guard called her courtside fandom performative.
Where The Gilded Age stands
The timing explains why Coon is everywhere this month. Julian Fellowes’ period drama returned for its fourth season on November 1, 2026, and runs eight episodes on Sunday nights through December 20. Season 4 jumps to 1885, opening after Oscar van Rhijn’s wedding to Enid Winterton. Coming episodes include “Ain’t That Good News” on November 15 and “Good Taste” on November 22.
Bertha has already earned Coon two Primetime Emmy nominations, in 2024 and 2026, and a Critics’ Choice nomination this year. Here is how the role fits into a run that has made her one of television’s most nominated character actors:
- The Leftovers (2014–2017): Nora Durst, which won her a Critics’ Choice award.
- Fargo (2017): police chief Gloria Burgle, her first Emmy nomination.
- The Gilded Age (2022–present): Bertha Russell, two Emmy nominations.
- The White Lotus (2025): divorced lawyer Laurie Duffy, an Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination.
Coon also returned to Broadway this year in her husband Tracy Letts’ play Bug, earning a Tony nomination for best actress in a play, and plays Rita Cooper in the 2026 film The Liberation. For more screen stories, see the Badiyaa entertainment section.
Bertha’s next move airs on HBO on Sunday, November 15, at the halfway point of the eight-episode season.
Further reading
Image: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. How we work.
