Matt Damon and David Letterman Make Silent Cameos in The Gilded Age Season 4 Premiere
Matt Damon and David Letterman both appear in the Season 4 premiere of HBO's The Gilded Age, and neither of them says a word. The episode aired on Sunday, November 1, and Deadline has reported the cameos.
The two men share a short scene. At about the 8:33 mark, they walk across a street together as two gentlemen. A cameo is a brief appearance by a well-known person, usually in a small part. They do not speak to each other during the moment.
Damon's look is a top hat, a white shirt with an ascot, a long coat, slacks, sideburns and a fuzzy mustache. Letterman wears a bowler hat, an all-black outfit and his beard. Both costumes fit the period, which is the 1865 to 1914 Gilded Age in New York City that the show is set in. HBO describes the series as a period drama from Julian Fellowes.
The premiere also moves several family storylines forward. Oscar van Rhijn, played by Blake Ritson, marries Enid Turner, played by Kelley Curran. Agnes van Rhijn learns that her new daughter-in-law was once Bertha Russell's lady's maid.
The episode also includes a medical crisis. Gladys, played by Taissa Farmiga, survives a childbirth emergency along with her baby boy. According to Deadline, she has a hysterectomy, an operation to remove the womb, to save her life. As a result, she will not be able to have more children naturally.
HBO's official description says Bertha Russell's family must face the results after she changed society. The season's logline puts it as Bertha changed Society "at a cost." The same description says Marian forges a new path, and Peggy works to be accepted by her future in-laws.
Season 4 runs eight episodes. New episodes arrive weekly on Sundays, so the next one follows on Sunday, November 8. The cast includes Carrie Coon, Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson and Denee Benton. HBO also lists a companion podcast, hosted by Alicia Malone and Tom Meyers.
For viewers, the cameo is the easiest thing to spot. The family plot is where the season's real questions sit, from the new marriage to Gladys's recovery and what it means for her future.
