THE GILDED AGE Star Morgan Spector Talks A Musical Episode and Working with Broadway's Brightest Stars

Morgan Spector, the breakout heartthrob of the HBO series, The Gilded Age, sat down with Variety to discuss the show's popularity, his on-screen relationship with co-star Carrie Coon, and what it's like to work with a screen full of stage stars.

Working with such a stacked cast of Broadway veterans, Spector shared his hopes for a potential musical episode of the series, He told the Variety podcast, “You know what we should do? There’s the British tradition of the Christmas special. If we could have a Christmas special, then we could have some singing and it would be great. Give the people what they want.”

A theatre actor, Morgan shared his enthusiasm for sharing the screen with some of the biggest stage actors of the day. He said, "You look around this cast and you’re like, “The recurring guest stars all have seven Tonys. What is this?” But it’s really cool. I came up through the theater and these are names that I have read about and considered legendary, and here I am on set, and you’re just getting to see Kelli O’Hara swan in and Christine Baranski, Michael Cerveris and Cynthia Nixon and all these people. Carrie, obviously. The list goes on and on, and Denée Benton, like, oh my God."

Morgan also discussed his difficulties auditioning for musicals. He said, "I’ve had some bad ones. I sing a little bit. I was in the national tour of “Lion King.” It was my second job out of grad school, but the parts I was playing, you can speak sing it so you don’t have to be a singer. But because of that, I have auditioned for some musicals here and there, and I have a terrible problem — when I try to sing in an audition, I just start to shake and I’m on the verge of tears."

The Gilded Age will air its second season finale this Sunday, December 17 at 9 PM. 

Julian Fellowes' Max series features over 60 Broadway alums, including Audra McDonald, Nathan Lane, Cynthia Nixon, and more.

Season two of The Gilded Age begins on Easter morning 1883, with the news that Bertha Russell's bid for a box at the Academy of Music has been rejected. Through the eight episodes of the season, we watch as Bertha challenges Mrs. Astor and the old system and works to not only gain a foothold in Society, but to potentially take a leading role in it. George Russell takes on his own battle with a growing union at his steel plant in Pittsburgh.

In the Brook House, Marian continues her journey to find her way in the world secretly teaching at a girls school while much to everyone’s surprise Ada begins a new courtship. Of course, Agnes approves of none of it. In Brooklyn, the Scott family begins to heal from a shocking discovery, and Peggy taps into her activist spirit through her work with T. Thomas Fortune at the NY Globe.

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