Why Carrie Coon Only Had 48 Hours to Prepare for ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 3 (Exclusive)

Carrie Coon literally went from one project to the next as she transitioned from shooting The White Lotus season 3 on location in Thailand to filming season 3 of The Gilded Age back in New York City. 

According to the actress, she just had two days to prepare for her leading role as Bertha Russell in the newest episodes of creator Julian Fellowes’ historical drama about 19-century Manhattan high society, likening the whole experience to wearing a wet bathing suit.

“I went from the one set to the other in 48 hours,” Coon, 44, tells PEOPLE, quipping that her real-life family, including her 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter she shares with husband Tracey Letts, didn’t do much to help her get ready once she was back home. “I have two children  and they didn’t care that I had, you know, jet lag or that I needed to rest or work.” 

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“So I was woefully underprepared and I had no costumes ’cause I’d been out of the country for six months essentially,” she continues, before revealing how the production accommodated her last-minute return. “What was lovely is they decided to just shoot all my bedroom scenes [first]. So I got to be in all my nightgowns and robes for the first few days. So they really eased me into it.”

As she explains, “I really just begged them for more time because it’s TV, it moves very quickly and I just needed more time to figure out how to talk, just how to walk around [as Bertha].” 

Coon then adds, “I just felt like a stranger in my own family is how I felt, but they were very patient with me and just quite lovely.” 

Prior to speaking to PEOPLE about the return of The Gilded Age, the actress revealed on Today how she maintained a fair skin complexion while playing Laurie Duffy, one of three female friends struggling to get along with each other during an overdue reunion. 

“My skin was supposed to look like porcelain. I mean, they eat arsenic biscuits,” she said, referring to playing Bertha on period drama, before sharing the drastic measures she took to evade the Thai sun.

As she put it, she “hid in my room from 9 to 4” and then “would swim in long sleeves and long pants at 5 p.m. when the UV index dropped to 1.”

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While her family ultimately rallied around her and the production was able to adjust filming the new episodes, Coon tells PEOPLE that finding the social maneuvering character she’s been playing for two seasons prior took some mental adjusting. 

Not only did she have to learn how to walk and talk like Bertha again, but she had to get over the “uncomfortable” feeling of it all.

“Have you ever put on a wet bathing suit?” the actress asks, before explaining, “That’s very uncomfortable, right? But you know it’s yours so you’re not, like, freaked out. But it doesn’t feel good, does it?”

“But once you get in the water, it’s fine,” she notes. 

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On season 3 of The Gilded Age, “the old guard is weakened and the Russells stand poised to take their place at the head of society,” according to HBO. “Bertha sets her sights on a prize that would elevate the family to unimaginable heights while George [Morgan Spector] risks everything on a gambit that could revolutionize the railroad industry — if it doesn’t ruin him first.” 

Of course, that means tension for the Russell clan, including children Larry (Harry Richardson) and Gladys (Taissa Farmiga), as a whole.

But according to Coon, who was previously nominated for an Emmy for her role on the show, “Bertha really believes that everything she’s done this season is for love,” even if that means causing headaches for her husband and kids as she tries to secure their place at the top. 

The Gilded Age season 3 premieres Sunday, June 22 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and Max.