Gilded Age S4: Louisa Jacobson and Harry Richardson React to Larry and Marian’s “Utter Agony” in Episode 1

For three seasons, The Gilded Age fans have waited for Larry and Marian to get together. After their engagement went south, it seemed like it might never happen. But in the season 4 premiere, Larry and Marian (SPOILERS AHEAD for Gilded Age season 4, episode 1) finally spend a night together. It had all the right tropes: A broken carriage wheel, no way to get back uptown, two rooms left in the nearest hotel, no pesky chaperones to get in the way. Bu›t the morning after, it’s clear that Marian is devastated by what’s happened between the two of them, and Larry is left reeling as to what he did wrong.The actors behind the characters, Louisa Jacobson and Harry Richardson, spoke with Cosmopolitan about what went through Marian’s head the morning after, how Larry will try to understand her reservations as the season goes on, and the joy of playing a will-they-won’t-they couple.They have this seemingly incredible night together, but Marian wakes up with regrets. What’s getting in her way at this point? Louisa: It's this huge transgression. Premarital sex was a cardinal sin, and it's something that would completely ruin a woman's reputation in society, completely leave her destitute, leave her without marriage options. She would be thought of as impure. We don't live in this context anymore.It's really hard to deal with the fact that what might have been the best night of her life is something that is so bad because she's internalized that history of shame. He's not going to feel those consequences.Photograph by Karolina Wojtasik/HBOAnd Marian has a tough history with the men in her life, which is surely contributing to this. Louisa: Her father lied to her when he died about her situation financially, and he wasn't a very good father. Her mother died very young. And then there's Tom Raikes from season 1, and then the safe, arranged thing with Dashiell didn't work out, then there’s this mistrust with Larry because of the brothel situation. She's just been burned so many times in such an intense way that there's already a lot of trepidation. And there's a lot of pressure on her from society because she's had two failed engagements. The stakes are really, really high right now.Harry, how do you think Larry will try to understand what Marian’s going through as the season goes on?Harry: It takes the whole season. He's really struggling at trying to understand the gravity of what's happened, but he gets a full force realization in the morning after. Louisa was given one of the hardest tasks ever to shift from the most exquisite night of, finally, this couple we've been rooting for to be able to express their love getting together, and then in one cut we go to what is my favorite shot of the whole season, this POV of her in the mirror. My heart broke for her because you see instantly in one look, "Oh, her life is on the line.”Beyond all of his desires to connect with her, Larry adores her and wants to be with her. He sees the person he loves the most in utter agony. He’s instantly confronting: My immaturity has now put the person who I care most about in a terrible situation.Louisa: I was trying to figure out, what's she experiencing physically? Not to be TMI, but you know, stuff happens to your body after you have sex for the first time that can be uncomfortable physically, and if you don't know what's going on, you really suffer.What has it been like to play with this will-they-won’t-they dynamic throughout the seasons? Harry: I feel like life is a continuous expansion of will-they-won’t-they. Am I gonna am I gonna brave up or am I gonna freak out again? We're all trying to expand our heart. We're also going through all this fear and insecurity. It's amazing to play because we get to confront the parts of ourselves that are closed or scared. This show is so beautiful because even though there's so many complications for every character, as it gets more complex, it gets deeper.