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“And then we’re going to kill him,� Engler told the actress. “And then he’s going to turn out to have been very wealthy and you’re going to save the day and be mistress of the house.�

Surprised? Yes, she was.

“I just thought I had this nice part,� Nixon recalls. “I knew who she was and then, wow, we were off to the races.�

Now, in the third season, more relationships get upended, and the Brooks sisters (Nixon’s Ada and Christine Baranski’s Agnes) experience a power shift. When it’s all put into play, Baranski says, “it’s yummy.�

“It’s not good news for Agnes but it’s great news for Christine,� she adds. “When royalty falls off the throne, it makes for a good story…and it makes for delicious comic moments.� As the one who used to rule the roost, Agnes now has to watch what she says and does.

Ada, meanwhile, has to “mature into this great responsibility and power and freedom.�

“I’m just observing the entire time, thinking, ‘That’s not how you do it,’� Baranski says.

Marital differences

That “growth� is reflected elsewhere in the third season. The new money Russells, for example, differ on what’s most important. Bertha Russell, played by Carrie Coon, has her sights set ruling society while her husband, played by Morgan Spector, could lose everything by toying with the railroad industry.

“I’m always rather fascinated by people who pretend that the loss of money, the loss of position, doesn’t affect them at all, that everything can just go on as it did before,� says Julian Fellowes, the series’ creator. “Of course, it can’t. Even today we know that.�

But sisters Ada and Agnes, the Russells and their children, and the friends and competitors go through a world of growing pains.

“I personally find it hard to let go of the marital harmony (the Russells) have had for two seasons,� Spector says. “But the rift that develops between them is not a minor one and it’s a very sort of structural disagreement. They’re pulling with all the might of their separate identities in separate directions.�

“George can’t really understand the stakes for a woman,� Coon adds. “He doesn’t understand our instinct for survival which is, in this case, through marriage. Bertha really believes what she’s doing is an existential question. She wants her daughter to be safe; she wants her to be fulfilled and have a sense of purpose. She’s hungry for her daughter to have a kind of power she didn’t have. She feels, ultimately, she was right, so what’s the big problem? There’s a lack of psychological understanding between them that’s fundamental and quite sad.�

Another generation

Daughter Gladys – who could marry an English aristocrat – has little say in the maneuverings.

“Gladys is pretty used to being a pawn that Bertha loves to move around,� says Taissa Farmiga, who plays the role. “What’s beautiful about this season is, yes, there’s the big decision. But at the end of the season, Gladys finally catches a glimpse of, ‘Bertha was right.’ And that thing that Gladys wanted most is freedom. Status gives you power…and you have the power to choose what you want to do.�

Because the third season of “The Gilded Age� opens so many discussions, the actors hope there will be a fourth season to see them through, particularly since the next generation has different aspirations than their parents.

“One of the key moments of growing up, for all of us, is when you realize you don’t have to follow your parents’ prejudices,� Fellowes says. “It’s not (being) disloyal, it’s just an acceptance that you are a different person from your parents.�

"The Gilded Age" airs on HBO.