When it comes to red carpet appearances for her hit show “The Gilded Age,” Denée Benton likes to remind people that she can wear more than period clothing.
“Sometimes I try to go really counter to it so that the world knows what I look like, not in a corset,” Benton says. “But every once in a while I think I like to wink towards it in a way.”
For the show’s season three premiere in New York, Benton worked with her stylist, Solange Franklin, on a look made up of a red and pink Carolina Herrera gown and David Yurman jewerly.
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“I haven’t gotten to do a ton of color on my carpets yet, and this has been the perfect one,” Benton says over the phone from the Fifth Avenue Hotel while in the glam chair. “It almost feels like it feels more Audrey Hepburn than ‘Gilded Age,’ but it still feels like a kiss toward the period.”
Benton was drawn to the dress for its combination of classic and sexy.
“[Solange and I] knew we wanted to have something that was classic, but also with a little bit of shape to it and something with a little edge to it,” she says. “And it has this gorgeous cutout back that really accentuates my silhouette while still having this timeless energy in the architecture of the dress.”
Rather than focus on brands, Benton approaches fashion by what she feels best in.
“I really like to make sure I feel like I look and feel really good in my body. I just feel like I’m photographed better when you feel like you are a baddie,” she says. “I want to tell a different story each time, and this time it was really wanting to get to play with color and get to play with a more minimalist shape. And there’s also this really sweet bow in the back that makes it just feel a little girly at the same time.”
Benton plays Peggy on the hit HBO show, which also stars Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Cynthia Nixon and Christine Baranski. The upcoming third season, which premieres on Sunday, sees Peggy blossom at last.
“In season one and season two we’re seeing her move through so much grief and have to sort of reclaim her life. And this season, in the color stories of her costumes and her getting to have a real available suitor for the first time, we just get to see her shine,” Benton says. “We see Peggy smile so much more this season than we’ve seen her smile in the whole show. And I think by the time we get to the finale, I think audiences are going to feel really excited to get to see her win.”
The 33-year-old actress, who was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance on Broadway in the 2016 musical “Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812,” relates heavily to her character.
“I got to have such a hand in creating who she’s ended up being on screen and behind the scenes, which is really rare as an actor. And so I feel really invested in what Peggy means to the audiences and especially to the Black audiences that feel seen by her,” Benton says. “I always feel like if I had been born in the 1880s, Peggy is who I would be. So I feel just deeply connected to her as the woman she represents, and it makes me excited to step into her shoes every time.”