Carrie Coon's Gilded Age was a niche success. Her new film aims for more

NEW YORK – Carrie Coon has never made a film like “His Three Daughters.”

The intimate family drama (now on Netflix) follows estranged sisters Katie (Coon), Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) and Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) as they reunite to care for their ailing patriarch. The film was shot in just three weeks in a cramped New York City apartment; the apartments next door were converted into makeshift lounges, while the building's basement became a production office. Miraculously, there were no noise complaints from disgruntled tenants.

“They emailed all the neighbors so they knew we were there,” Coon recalls with a grin. “We kept respectful opening hours.”

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"His three daughters" Star Carrie Coon poses for a portrait in New York.

The character was written specifically for Coon by filmmaker Azazel Jacobs, who found her “absolutely brilliant” in The Nest (2020) and reached out to work with her, knowing she could expose the vulnerable layers of the nervous Katie who ravages her siblings as she tries to navigate every detail of her father's final days in hospice.

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“It's no surprise that Carrie could play a locomotive,” says Jacobs. “It's what happens next., that I felt like she could really go in a different direction.”

Natasha Lyonne, left, Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon on the set of "His three daughters."

In real life, Coon, 43, grew up in Copley, Ohio, the middle of five children. She was always the family's go-between, although like Katie, she “can be pushy at times with her unsolicited advice.” When the actress read Jacobs' script, she admired his raw approach to grief and the dark humor that permeates it.

On paper, that may sound “really depressing,” Coon says. “But when I see something that doesn't have a sense of humor, it doesn't seem real to me. The absurdity of human existence has to find its way.”

“His Three Daughters” crowns a record year for Carrie Coon

“His Three Daughters” could catapult Coon into the Oscar race after more than a decade of stunning work on stage and screen. The Tony-nominated actress made her film debut in 2014’s “Gone Girl,” playing Ben Affleck’s wisecracking sister. (At a screening of the David Fincher thriller in her hometown, Coon’s Catholic grandmother cringed every time she dropped the F-word, “and I said it in almost every sentence in that movie, so that was really painful for me.”)

Coon has worked steadily since then, landing roles in award-winning dramas (“Widows,” “The Post”) and blockbuster franchises (“Ghostbusters,” “Avengers”). She has also become the queen of prestige television, starring in FX’s “Fargo” and HBO’s “The Leftovers” and “The Gilded Age.” In July, she was nominated for a best actress Emmy for the latter for her role as the relentlessly ambitious Bertha Russell.

Gilded in particular has become a niche success. Created by Downton Abbey mastermind Julian Fellowes and starring mostly Broadway veterans, the sweeping historical drama was never a big ratings hit, but it has gradually found a passionate online fan base of women and gays.

“It seems to be something that younger people watch with their moms and grandmothers, either because they like theater or because they think (co-star) Morgan Spector is hot,” Coon says, laughing. “And of course, I really feel like Gay Twitter saved our show. Never underestimate the power of Gay Twitter!”

Even as her star rises, she credits her Midwestern upbringing for keeping her humble. “You just bury your head in the sand and do your work,” Coon says. “I've never had a long stretch where I haven't worked, and I'm really proud of my resume.”

And she is not (yet) so famous that people would approach her on the street, the actress emphasizes: “Everything that happens to me happens on the Internet – not in my real life. And thank God! I wouldn't want it any other way.”

Carrie Coon and husband Tracy Letts raise their children to love cinema

Coon's reputation will continue to rise next year with the third season of HBO's “The White Lotus,” which she filmed in Thailand last spring. (An avid reader, she spent most of those 18-hour flights in blissful seclusion.)

She also has a small role in “Another Happy Day,” a comedy about postpartum depression coming out in the fall. Writer-director Nora Fiffer “is committed to making an eight-hour workday with access to child care, and that's a movement we should all support in every industry,” says Coon, who has two young children with actress and playwright Tracy Letts.

“I'm lucky that I'm in a supportive marriage – my husband isn't afraid of female ambition and I really like being at home,” says Coon. “These days, the things that take me away from my family have to be really special. I'm very privileged to be in a position where I can make decisions about that.”

In many ways, Coon and Letts are the ultimate creative power couple. The two hope to bring two of his plays, “Bug” and “August: Osage County,” back to New York soon. (“They're basically period pieces now, but what they predicted about the country is breathtaking,” Coon explains.) They're also avid cinephiles, with a collection of more than 10,000 Blu-rays.