Carrie Coon, known for her captivating performances on stage and screen, including her Emmy-nominated role as Bertha Russell in ‘The Gilded Age,’ is sharing her ultimate guide to the show’s wardrobe, her personal style, and her time in Thailand on set of ‘The White Lotus.’ Watch as Town & Country's cover star describes how she transforms into Bertha the moment she steps into her elaborate costumes, reveals how ‘The White Lotus’ cast would linger over free breakfast, and opens up about her self-described “disheveled working mom” look.
Season 3 of ‘The White Lotus’ premieres February 16th on HBO and Max.
Season 3 of ‘The White Lotus’ premieres February 16th on HBO and Max.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hi, I'm Carrie Coon, and this is my Town and Country Guide.
00:04Top six.
00:06Ow.
00:06Off to a great start.
00:08This is my guide to the Gilded Age.
00:12How I get into character each day is putting on the costume,
00:17how the costumes and everything reshape me before I go onto set,
00:20the way that I walk, the way I carry myself,
00:23the way we eat, the way we greet each other.
00:25Everything is very codified.
00:27And then also, Bertha's voice, she just, she drops way down.
00:31I'm tired of being cut on my own doorstep.
00:33Make them come.
00:34She knows that her voice is the key to her authority in a room.
00:39Because I play Bertha, I have multiple costume makers.
00:43Some of the characters have a single dressmaker,
00:46but I actually have dresses from every dressmaker we use,
00:49and so they really vary in terms of their weight and their construction.
00:54To get into the costumes, you need help.
00:55And Amber, my dresser, cinches my waist from a 28 to a 24.
01:00They have various hooks and eyes and buttons.
01:02We do not use zippers.
01:04That's a Reddit lie.
01:05It's all period appropriate.
01:06Amber and I are fond of timing ourselves,
01:09so we know how long I can take a break in my corset.
01:11The shoes are what really gets you.
01:13And the hats, the hats are so big
01:15that when I go to take a rest,
01:18we get about an hour lunch break.
01:20And so I have this, it's called the cranio cradle,
01:23and I can put it on my head this way so I can lay on the ground,
01:26but my hat and my feathers still go straight behind me
01:28and nothing gets crushed.
01:29They have a lot to offer.
01:35They're women I know that I could call for advice anytime,
01:38and it really feels like family.
01:39One of my favorite times was in the Gilded Age.
01:42I was eight months pregnant when we finished the first season,
01:44and so I was regaled with stories of all these women,
01:47Kelly O'Hara, Christine, Cynthia,
01:49they'd all been on stage pregnant.
01:51And for example, Kelly and Donna Murphy,
01:53they had performed singing and dancing and tapping
01:55and doing quick changes backstage with hoop skirts
01:57while they were really pregnant.
01:59And so I loved hearing those stories about theater.
02:02But the truth is, because it's a large ensemble,
02:04we almost never see each other.
02:05We almost never work on the same days.
02:07So all of us really relish the big group scenes.
02:10We call it an old skate when we have a big ball
02:12and everyone's there together
02:13because that's when it really feels like theater camp.
02:15And it does.
02:16It's nerdy, fun theater camp.
02:17It's exactly the way people expect it would be.
02:20This is my guide to style.
02:21I come from a small town in the Midwest.
02:26I did not grow up steeped in style.
02:29My mom used to wear her hospital scrubs to weddings.
02:32She would tell people she came directly from work,
02:34and that was a lie.
02:36So I didn't have a lot of help when it came to style.
02:38No offense, my mother's a wonderful human being.
02:41It's something that I am now
02:42just starting to educate myself about,
02:44and I so appreciate people like my stylist,
02:46Alicia Lombardini,
02:48who are guiding me toward really interesting new brands
02:51in particular,
02:51not just the old-fashioned houses,
02:53but also up-and-coming young designers.
02:55I like to promote young artists as much as I can.
03:00I would describe my personal style
03:02as disheveled working mom.
03:06To and from set,
03:07I wear my Rachel Comey jumpsuit
03:08and a baseball cap because I wear a wig,
03:11and I wear it to work literally every single day
03:14and for probably about the last five years.
03:16And on the weekends,
03:17I tend to wear the same pair of pants and shirt
03:20for 48 hours.
03:25I never leave the house
03:27without Lansano nipple cream for my lips.
03:31You guys, let's just talk straight here.
03:34It's the same tissue.
03:36Nipples and lips are basically the same tissue,
03:38so it stands to reason that the nipple cream
03:40is going to work very well on your lips.
03:41You don't have to put it on as often.
03:43I mean, you know, it's for babies.
03:45You can eat it,
03:45so it's perfectly safe to put on your face.
03:48And if I forget chapstick,
03:49I have to go home
03:50or I have to go to the drugstore
03:51because I can't live without chapstick of some variety,
03:54but most often nipple cream.
03:56I've converted a lot of people
03:57to nipple cream for their lips,
03:58and it comes in a big tube.
03:59Just don't drop it
04:00because people pick it up for you
04:02and then they're embarrassed.
04:03It's very uncomfortable for me.
04:04This is my guide to travel
04:07and an umbrella and long sleeves
04:11and UPF safe clothing and bathing suits.
04:14I spent the first six months almost of this year in Thailand
04:18for the White Lotus.
04:19It's really liberating to be away from your children.
04:22I think every woman should try it.
04:24I got to read books and listen to podcasts and exercise.
04:28And the reason I did those things
04:30is because I didn't go outside
04:31because the UV index in Thailand is so high
04:34that I would have burnt to ashes
04:36if I stepped outside
04:37between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
04:40And then when I went out at 4,
04:41I was covered in sunscreen
04:43and I swam in long sleeves and long pants and gloves.
04:50We loved to linger at breakfast.
04:53We were obviously staying in resorts
04:54and so many times they have these all-you-can-eat breakfasts.
04:58Well, we're actors and we love free food.
05:00And so we would spend literally two and a half
05:02to three hours in the breakfast room
05:03and they had all these juices
05:05and, you know, someone's cutting up
05:07all this tropical fruit for you
05:08and we took a lot of things home with us.
05:10You know, like a protein bar for the gym later.
05:14When you're traveling with your family,
05:15it's a nightmare and it's chaos
05:17and there are no rules.
05:18But also bring snacks.
05:19You don't want to be on an airplane
05:20with no snacks with kids.
05:22That is a nightmare that I do not want to repeat.
05:24And I'm not going to tell you that story.
05:26It's too painful.
05:28I now travel with my own pillow.
05:30It's a contoured pillow.
05:31It's a techno gel.
05:32I don't leave home without that.
05:33I always bring my phone
05:35where I have an app for a white noise machine
05:37because you can't control other people's behavior
05:38in a hotel and they might be loud.
05:40I bring an eye mask
05:41in case there aren't blackout curtains.
05:42I like to bring an indoor shoe.
05:44I like a supportive sandal.
05:45I like a Hoka or an Ufos.
05:47Ufos?
05:48Ufos?
05:49I don't know how you say that,
05:49but they're great.
05:51Those are my guides.
05:52Thanks for watching
05:52and please check out
05:53my Town and Country cover.