Fresh from the second season of AppleTV+’s The Buccaneers, Kristine Froseth is staying in the world of Edith Wharton as she joins the cast of Netflix’s The Age of Innocence. She’s one of four additions to the cast of the miniseries adaptation of Wharton’s classic 1920 novel. She’ll be joined by Ben Radcliffe, Camila Morrone, and Margo Martindale. Froseth will star as May Welland, a young woman in 1870s New York who tends to shyly conform to the societal mores of the day, but has surprising hidden depths.
Her cousin, Ellen Olenska, will be played by Daisy Jones and the Six‘s Morrone; in contrast to May, she’s free-spirited and ahead of her time. Caught between the two is Newland Archer, who will be played by Masters of the Air‘s Radcliffe; he’s a young and successful lawyer who discovers a side of himself he never knew existed. May and Ellen share a grandmother, Mrs. Manson Mingott, who wields her power to shape the family’s future; she’ll be played by character actress Martindale, who recently headlined The Sticky. In Martin Scorsese‘s acclaimed 1993 adaptation of the novel, those roles were played by, respectively, Winona Ryder, Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Miriam Margolyes, respectively. The series will be showrun, written, and executive produced by Emma Frost (The White Princess).
What Is ‘The Age of Innocence’ About?
Set in Gilded Age New York City, the novel centers around Archer, a lawyer who is planning to marry the traditional May. However, May’s cousin Ellen unexpectedly returns from Europe after a failed marriage to a Polish aristocrat, and Archer is instantly smitten. Ellen is vastly different from May, and awakens a new side of Archer. However, May is not as naive as Archer believes. The novel is a classic of 20th century American literature, and won a Pulitzer Prize. It has been adapted for the screen a number of times, most famously by Scorsese in 1993. His version was a hit with critics and audiences, earning $68 million on a $34 million budget, and was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Ryder; it won one, for Best Costume Design.
Froseth currently stars as Nan St. George on The Buccaneers, which is likewise based on a work by Wharton; it was unfinished during her lifetime, and was published posthumously. Like The Age of Innocence, it follows the nouveau riche of New York City; in this case, it centers around five heiresses who travel to the United Kingdom in the hope of marrying into the aristocracy.
The Age of Innocence is in development; no release date has yet been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
