Is Phylicia Rashad in The Gilded Age season 3? Details explored

Phylicia Rashad joins the cast of The Gilded Age season 3 in episode 3, titled Love in Never Easy, and her character will shake things up for one of the show's heroines. The third episode of the season, which premiered on Max on Sunday evening, July 6, 2025, introduced the six-time Emmy-nominated actress' character as Dr. William Kirkland's (Jordan Donica) mother, Elizabeth.

While everyone in Newport appears hopeful about Peggy's budding romance with Dr. Kirkland, at least at first, Elizabeth isn't. She's a conundrum because while she's initially impressed by Peggy's level of education, she feels disdain over Peggy's father being a former slave, despite becoming a businessman since then.

Racism has been a sore spot for the Scotts to the point that they were shocked when the Van Rhijns treated them with respect. With Phylicia Rashad's character turning her nose against them, she's going to be an obstacle in Peggy's story. Find out more about her character below.

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Who is Elizabeth Kirkland? All about Phylicia Rashad's character in The Gilded Age season 3

The Gilded Age season 3 episode 3 introduces Phylicia Rashad as Elizabeth Kirkland in Peggy Scott's story. She's the mother of Dr. William Kirkland, the doctor whom Peggy's parents brought with them to treat Peggy at the Van Rhijn's in The Gilded Age season 3 episode 2.

Elizabeth is a proud woman and takes immense pride in her family's roots, turning her nose up at those who come from a lesser background. In episode 3, she proudly states that her family has lived in Rhode Island for five generations. She also takes pride in the fact that her great-great-grandfather fought in the American Revolutionary War.

She has an inflated sense of self-importance because, as her husband points out, her ancestor only "played the bugle" in the war and not one of the soldiers who fought on the frontlines. Elizabeth further displays her snobby behavior after learning that Peggy's father was once a slave.

Although she doesn't say it in many words, her character comes off as snobbish and judgmental, despite Arthur Scott turning his life around from being a former slave to becoming a businessman. After the party where the Scotts met the Kirklands, Arthur says Elizabeth Kirkland was a "piece of work."

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The significance of Phylicia Rashad's character in The Gilded Age season 3

In a post-episode interview of the show's co-showrunner, Sonja Warfield, with TV Line, she explained the significance of adding Phylicia Rashad's Elizabeth Kirkland to the series. She said that they have always wanted to add storylines about the divide between the elites and the middle class in the Black community during the time period depicted in the show.

These storylines, per Warfield, are not usually depicted in shows as they often focus on slavery and sharecropping. However, she said that the Black elite and the Black middle class "did exist," and they wanted to put them on the screen to depict the "internalized racism and colorism" between those two classes. Series creator Julian Fellowes added:

"It's important to remember that every community has its own snobberies, its own separations, its own divisions."

Phylicia Rashad's Elizabeth Kirkland in The Gilded Age season 3 episode 3 is the epitome of that snobbery and divide. Because, according to Fellowes, to believe that there's one community that doesn't have that kind of division is a "myth."

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Catch The Gilded Age season 3 streaming on Max, with new episodes arriving on the streaming platform every Sunday evening.