Christine Baranski in Conversation: “The Gilded Age” and Beyond

Christine Baranski
Tony and Emmy Award-Winning Actress

Christine Baranski is one of the entertainment industry’s most honored actresses. She is an Emmy Award, two-time Tony Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Drama Desk Award and American Comedy Award winner. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Baranski received her big break in Tom Stoppard’s hit Broadway comedy “The Real Thing,” directed by Mike Nichols, for which she won a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award. Baranski went on to earn her second Tony Award for her performance in Neil Simon’s “Rumors.” She also won an Emmy Award, American Comedy Award and SAG Award for her performance in the hit series “Cybill,” in addition to three subsequent Emmy Award nominations. Baranski received a total of five Emmy Award nominations for her guest roles on “Frasier” and “The Big Bang Theory.”

As the formidable Diane Lockhart on “The Good Wife,” Baranski received six Emmy Award nominations and two Critics’ Choice Television Award nominations for her performance on the CBS series. She then starred as the same character in the critically acclaimed spinoff “The Good Fight." Baranski has been nominated for four Critics’ Choice Television Awards, as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination and TCA Award nomination, for her performance in the spinoff.

Baranski earned an Emmy nomination for her current role as Agnes Van Rhijn in the HBO series “The Gilded Age,” from “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes. The critically acclaimed series, filmed partly in seven of the Newport Mansions, is an epic of the millionaire titans of New York City in the 1880s. Season 3 of the series will begin on June 22.

Additionally, Baranski recently completed Season 2 of Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers," playing the role of Victoria. The series is based on the psychological thriller novel of the same name, written by Liane Moriarty. Other cast members include Nicole Kidman, Murray Bartlett, Dolly de Leon and Annie Murphy.

Additional film credits include “The Birdcage,” “Chicago,” “Mama Mia!” “Mama Mia! Here We Go Again,” “Into the Woods,” “Bowfinger,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Bad Moms Christmas,” “Reversal of Fortune,” “Cruel Intentions,” “Bullworth,” “Miss Sloane,” “Trolls,” “Dolly Parton’s ‘Christmas on the Square’” and “Addams Family Values.”

Previous stage credits include “Sweeney Todd” (Helen Hayes Award),“Boeing-Boeing,” “HurlyBurly,” “The House of Blue Leaves,” “It’s Only a Play,” “Lips Together Teeth Apart,” “The Loman Family Picnic,” “Regrets Only,” “Coming Attractions,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Obie Award), “Mame” at The Kennedy Center, and Encores! productions of “Follies” and “Promises, Promises.”

Baranski received an Honorary Doctorate from Juilliard and in 2018 was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

Jared Bowen
host of GBH's "The Culture Show"

Jared Bowen is the host of "The Culture Show," a daily radio program and podcast on 89.7 GBH. He is also the Emmy Award-winning Executive Arts Editor at GBH exploring the creative process through a lively mix of local and national artist profiles, performances and exhibitions. Bowen is a special correspondent for the PBS NewsHour and covers the latest happenings in the region’s theater, art, music, dance and film scenes on GBH’s "Morning Edition" and Boston Public Radio. He is the moderator of the Boston Speakers Series at Symphony Hall conducting interviews with figures ranging from world leaders to Nobel laureates to Oscar-winning actors. He is a member of the Boston Theater Critics Association and serves on the Board of Directors for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Bowen has won four New England Emmy Awards and two Edward R. Murrow Awards for his arts reporting and is a recipient of the Commonwealth Award, recognizing achievement in the arts, humanities and sciences. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and a member of the American Antiquarian Society. He began his career at "Dateline NBC" in New York, is a graduate of Emerson College and holds an honorary doctorate from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.