THE NEW MONEY WANNABES

Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) comes from a middle-class family, but is desperate to become part of society after her husband made his millions. ‘In the Gilded Age there were women who might have become senators or doctors, but were relegated to their charities and their children,’ says Carrie. ‘So you have Bertha, who’s smart and ambitious, trying to break into a codified society.’

Like his wife, George (Morgan Spector) wants to win at all costs and is ruthless in business. ‘There’s something very attractive about a character who is so unscrupulous,’ says Morgan (left). ‘But at home he’s a conscientious husband.’ Their son Larry (Harry Richardson) is the apple of his mother’s eye, and his sister Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) hates the way her family still treat her like a child.