“Stand again, I’m about to behave,” Ashlie Atkinson, who performs gossipy Mrs. Fish on HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” jokes as she prepares for an additional take of a luncheon scene that finds her giving side-eye to Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy), the grande dame of the higher crust. 

It’s a sunny October morning, and Atkinson is surrounded by dozens of girls in elaborate robes, in addition to tuxedo-clad butlers. Her stately environment appear like one thing out of a John Singer Sargent portray. That’s becoming as a result of the scene unfolds at The Ledges, the oceanfront property of the Cushing household, members of Newport’s social scene when it was the summer season vacation spot for the old-money elite and robber barons that Sargent immortalized. It’s considered one of a number of historic places to characteristic prominently on “The Gilded Age” for the reason that present started in 2022. For the creators, the Rhode Island resort, which has the very best focus of properties from the period that lends the present its title, was important to the success of “The Gilded Age.”

“We couldn’t do that present with out Newport,” says David Crockett, an government producer on “The Gilded Age.” “The stately properties from the interval which might be nonetheless in New York are all motels or embassies or faculties. Inside, they’ve been modernized, so it will break the bank to renovate them.” 

That implies that Newport palaces like The Elms, Marble Home and Château-sur-Mer don’t simply seem on the present as opulent summer season getaways; in addition they double because the bedrooms, ballrooms and research of the New York Metropolis mansions the place a lot of the present takes place. These homes are largely operated as museums, preserved as they have been when the Astors and the Vanderbilts dominated over excessive society. They function gorgeous backdrops, serving to “The Gilded Age” deliver a interval of historical past famend for its ostentatious shows of wealth to life on-screen. 

“I can level my digicam in any route in these places and appear like a genius,” quips Deborah Kampmeier, one of many present’s administrators. “There’s not a nasty angle at any of those locations.” 

The showrunners have labored intently with the Preservation Society of Newport County, custodian of greater than a dozen historic residences, to get the form of entry that’s hardly ever granted to movie crews. Town has been rewarded by a lift in tourism, as “The Gilded Age” has elevated curiosity within the estates that function the setting for the present’s social climbing and backstabbing. To satisfy demand, the Preservation Society began providing location excursions three years in the past for $250 a ticket; they bought out in minutes.

“We’ve had so many individuals, lots of them from out of state, who come by and say, ‘Oh, that is the room the place Bertha Russell hosted that social gathering,’” says Trudy Coxe, the Preservation Society’s government director. 

Coxe credit the present, which began capturing throughout COVID, with serving to the group preserve the homes at a time when tourism had shut down. 

“It saved our bacon,” Coxe says. “We have been dying on the vine, as a result of no one was touring and all people was hunkered down. That meant no guests, and that’s how we make our cash, so the income from the leases to HBO helped us get by way of that interval.” 

After the pandemic lifted and tourism returned, “The Gilded Age” realized to work round Newport’s busy summer season season, when the tiny resort city welcomes a whole lot of hundreds of tourists, in addition to numerous weddings. As a substitute, the present makes some extent of filming its Newport scenes within the fall when the climate remains to be delicate however the crowds have began to disperse.

“Our capturing schedule retains shifting, however we all know we have now to make that piece of the puzzle work,” says Bob Shaw, the present’s manufacturing designer. “We’re all the time on the telephone with the Preservation Society, determining after we want the completely different places as a result of they’ve a marriage reception on maintain.”

“The Gilded Age” extra firmly established Rhode Island as a hub for manufacturing. The state gives a 30% incentive however competes with bigger states like New York and neighboring Massachusetts for movies and exhibits. It has managed to draw some giant productions, with James L. Brooks’ “Ella McCay” and “Hocus Pocus 2” just lately heading to the Ocean State. A research commissioned by the Larger Newport Chamber of Commerce discovered that each greenback in tax credit score returned $5.44 of financial exercise. The third season of “The Gilded Age,” for instance, reportedly accounted for $27 million in manufacturing spending within the state. 

Steven Feinberg, government director of the Rhode Island Movie & Tv Workplace, stated the state pursued “The Gilded Age” for greater than a decade, following the present because it was first arrange at NBC after which later when it moved to HBO. At one level, Feinberg and Coxe satisfied “The Gilded Age” creator Julian Fellowes to go to Newport’s mansions, organising a candlelight dinner at Marble Head, full with a harpist. After wrapping up a tour, Feinberg turned to Fellowes to get his ideas. 

“It’s one factor to examine these homes,” Fellowes advised him. “However nothing compares to seeing them within the flesh.”