What a show…
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CHRISTINE BARANSKI:Yes!
Somebody was just asking me how Diane Lockhart would feel about all of the things happening in American politics.
The Season 7 or Season 8 finale could have been a happy ending.
Christine Baranski in ‘The Gilded Age’MAX
DEADLINE: That would have been epic.
Congratulations on this latest, your 16th, Emmy nomination.
I remember arriving late because the traffic was so bad.
I barely got in my seat.
My category was up first.
I won and it was just, Oh, OK, that was easy.
And then, 15 subsequent losses.
But you know what?
Im actually really glad I got it over with.
I know what its like to stand up there with the statue and the excitement of it.
The whole thing was just exciting and happy.
I was sitting behind David Letterman, and Barbra Streisand was across the aisle.
There was something so exciting and wonderful about it.
But I have to laugh because subsequently Im maybe one of the biggest losers.
How will she handle that going forward?
But then I lose all my money, and she inherits money.
Its just too delicious.
Its all in one season.
You cant knock these women down, and I love that.
BARANSKI:You cant, no.
Its funny you say that because I was thinking of the similarities of Diane and Agnes.
And the political world, the world that she believed in.
And how do people like that, women like that, keep their integrity and keep their sense?
How do they survive that?
Its been wonderful to play both roles for that reason.
I often say that Im playing a lot of Agnes as my mother.
And she had to walk home for lunch and eat jelly sandwiches every day for years.
And she fell in love and married a man who went off to fight World War II.
She had two kids to raise.
She didnt even know how to drive a car.
She had to look for work.
She had to begin her life again, like Diane, and she was one of the strongest women.
She survived three different bouts of cancer.
She lived to 85, and she just played the hand she was dealt.
And she was strong, and she had a great sense of humor.
She was a tough old broad, and Julian loves tough old broads.
He writes those women and he respects them.
Isnt that strange how that happens?
BARANSKI:I know, because I didnt necessarily manifest it.
I never much liked playing the victim, or the ingenue.
It was always more the forward motion, strong characters.
Im delighted to have played all those kinds of ladies.
It suits me just fine.
I began talking to him about it, and we had the longest conversation.
And I didnt know Julian then.
So, I was working for another company.
You couldnt be the lead in one show for one data pipe and a lead in another.
They just didnt allow that.
And what do I do with that time?
Now Im in the prime of my career.
Anyway, it was a very heartfelt letter and two days later they let it happen.
He let me go to do both…
It was just back-to-back, but its what I call a champagne problem.
Oh my gosh, Ive got two shows, not one.
DEADLINE: Youre shootingThe Gilded AgeSeason 3 right now.
Can you hint at all where Agnes is going?
BARANSKI:Well, she has to cope, doesnt she?
So it makes for a lot of humor, I think, her having to eat humble pie.
Its as eventful as Season 2, because Season 1 was largely establishing all those characters.
So thats pretty much continuing into Season 3.
Its amazing to me how popular and how invested the public is since the second season.
America was changing so rapidly during these years.
I mean, it could take you into the beginning of the 20th century.
BARANSKI:In a word, yes.
It shoots in Brooklyn.
Shes a magnificent character.
There are all kinds of places you could take her.
And I love my colleagues.
I mean, shes just the best acting pal.
BARANSKI:Yes, and all of us are all these great theater actors.
DEADLINE: I know you recently wrapped Season 2ofNine Perfect Strangers, which is so exciting.
What can you tell me about her?
BARANSKI:Well, shes a woman with a very big secret.
She arrives in her Wagner ski outfit, but shes using a cane.
DEADLINE: Annie Murphy plays your estranged daughter, right?
BARANSKI:Its Annie Murphy, yes.
We just had a marvelous time.
Shes my new young best friend.
There are so many great people [in the show].
And its a beautiful location.
So, I absolutely loved doing it on so many levels.
It went from January into June.
It was a long shoot.
It was culturally such a rich experience, and creatively such a rich experience.
DEADLINE: I see.
Thats your hint…
BARANSKI:Yes.
Thats the way the show is structured.
BARANSKI:Oh, yes.
But the Masha character is the same.
I mean, that accent that she has, and the look of it.
I mean, she has different hair.
Her hair is fantastic.
Her whole look is fantastic, but it is that character bringing together a different group of people.
