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Theres nothing more dangerous to a social climber than another social climber who knows how to play her game.
In a show as chill asThe Gilded Age, thats some hot, upsetting gossip.
After the first season, I assumed Turner mightve been written off of the show.
Talking about that with our costume designer was really thrilling.
Shes more aligned with Agnes van Rhijn in that way.
She dresses in a way that suits that.
Getting to do any scene with her, no matter what the status is, is a treat.
Thats what was going on in the first season.
Now she actually does have a status that Bertha can never have, so shes one-upped her.
Turners focus was on George.
Now her focus is on moving on from that and being a really peerless rival to her.
We know that Turner worked for old money even before being hired by Bertha.
Do you think that plays into that?Absolutely.
Thats where so much of her resentment stems from.
She understands old money and how they operate, and then that job ended when her employer passed away.
She needed a job and found the Russells.
But I think much of the resentment stems from the fact that she and Bertha come from similar backgrounds.
Its clear in season one that Turner is thinking,This could have been my life.
Thats very much the place that Turner operates out of.
That made the humiliation harder.
Turner has a very distinctive physical bearing.
She slinks around almost like a reptile.That was one of the first things I knew her body right away.
Then part of the physical swagger was just practical.
Maybe that was the genius of Kasia Walicka-Maimone, our costume designer.
Does it feel different now playing an upstairs character?
There are more costumes to get used to.
But one of the fun things about downstairs life is that you were always busy with some activity.
You were rarely sitting down and talking, you were always moving something or putting something away.
Its wonderful to have little tasks.
The rich have a lot less tasks.
I kept it for a couple years.
And returning was great, because my first day of filming on season two was filming Turners reappearance.
