HBO’s The Gilded Age season three features a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it drag cameo
Did you know The Gilded Age season three features a drag cameo? (HBO)
Did you know The Gilded Age season three features a drag cameo? (HBO)
The Gilded Age has more in common with drag queens than one might expect, and no, we’re not just thinking about outrageous ballgowns, camp fascinators, and shiny tiaras.
Drag – or rather, female impersonation – was a prominent, if overlooked, part of popular culture during the actual Gilded Age, particularly between the mid 19th century and early 20th century.
It’s only fitting then that The Gilded Age, HBO’s Emmy Award-winning historical drama about the flashy and materialistic era in American history, has finally featured its first drag cameo, albeit a fleeting one.
In season three episode five, which aired last week, Jack (The Last of Us star Ben Ahlers) and Larry (Poldark’s Harry Richardson) head to the Haymarket, a “scandalous” dance hall rife with “debauchery” that actually existed in New York during the 1800s, before eventually closing in 1911.
The venue was dubbed as a sort of New York equivalent to Moulin Rouge in Paris, and would have welcomed revellers and performances deemed risqué for the time.
While Jack and Larry enjoy the Haymarket’s saucy atmosphere, behind them is a very short shot of a male figure donning an elegant ladies evening dress, moustache and all.
The figure in question is Matthew Carlsen, the costume coordinator on season three of The Gilded Age, who swapped working hard behind the camera for a moment in front of it.
“If you look closely, you’ll just catch me, but blink and i’m gone baby,” Carlsen wrote on Instagram alongside a series of in-costume photos, and referencing the scene sadly being momentary.
“Had the absolute pleasure of being a background actor in a scene of Gilded Age that aired this past Sunday. I was part of a little vignette of female impersonators and a few other general queer folk. It was a cool experience to be a part of. Thank you to our lovely design team for making this happen,” Carlsen continued.
Carlsen shared that there was meant to be a number of female impersonators in the scene, but they “ended up being cut from the final edit”.
Speaking to The Advocate, the historical fashion aficionado raved about the fairly groundbreaking inclusion of female impersonation in a historical show like The Gilded Age.
“As a huge admirer of female impersonator Julian Eltinge, I was excited to learn the production team wanted to showcase this incredibly under-represented group in queer history,” Carlsen said.
Eltinge was one of New York’s most famed actors between the late 1800s and early 1900s, and was notable for playing a range of female characters – including on Broadway in Mr. Wix of Wickham in 1904.
Eltinge also became a large figure in the world of vaudeville, where many female impersonators found their stage, before beginning a career in silent films and Hollywood – in male and female-presenting roles.
“I was even more excited when I was asked to portray one of them within the scene, as it’s quite rare for this kind of character to be featured in historical storytelling in any serious, non-comedic manner,” Carlsen continued.
“I think it is incredibly important that queer history be represented in modern media, especially historical retellings.”
The Gilded Age continued with season three, episode six over the weekend (27 July), with episodes airing on Sundays weekly on HBO until 10 August.
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