GOING BACK IN TIME WITH CARRIE COON

Carrie Coon is back in a corset again for the eight-episode second season of The Gilded Age (Oct. 29 on HBO and Max), and while her character, Bertha Russell, has wedged open the door of 1883 Manhattan society, her bid for a box at the Academy of Music has been turned down. So, what’s a social climber to do? She schemes to make the up-and-coming Metropolitan Opera the hot, new tantalizing ticket in town. Following are some facts you may not know about the Ohio-born, Emmy-nominated actress, 42, who also starred in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (and the upcoming sequel), Fargo, Gone Girl, The Sinner and The Leftovers. She was raised on Ohio farmland owned by her family since the 1800s and was class president and the captain of her sports teams at Copley High School. She played soccer for University of Mount Union (Ohio), where she majored in English and Spanish, and minored in Psychology. A college drama professor urged her to take graduate courses in acting, which she did at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After a slow start in the acting business, Coon was nominated for a Tony Award for her role in the 2012 Broadway revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It was the role that changed her life. Coon landed the role of Bertha Russell in The Gilded Age when Amanda Peet had to exit the project due to scheduling conflicts Coon is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: she voices Proxima Midnight (CGI-generated character) in Avengers: Infinity. She lives with husband, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright and Tony-winning actor, Tracy Letts, 58, and their son and daughter in Chicago.