Denée Benton — the multi-hyphenate artiste, Broadway vet and star of the hit series The Gilded Age on HBO Max –– knew she wanted to do “all of it” from her earliest days of life. Growing up in Eustis, Florida, a small town 35 miles northwest of Orlando, her entry point into the arts as a young queer star came at the encouragement of her parents: “My mom would take me to see shows that came to Orlando.”
Benton is effortlessly cool as she recalled her past. Communicating with me on video via Zoom, the camera highlighted her poreless, rich, deep, flawless skin and her Janet Jackson Poetic Justice braids.
Smiling as she brought up the 1997 version of Cinderella, starring the late Whitney Houston and “vocal Bible” Brandy, she laughs in a way you could feel. “Whatever they’re doing is exactly what I want to do, because I started singing before I understood acting. When I learned that you could do both at the same time, I was like, ‘Oh, I found it.’”
With such a high bar driving her imagination, Benton began reaching for the stars so that she could leave behind her own footprint for the Black theater kids of tomorrow. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, Benton made her debut on Broadway almost a decade ago in “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812,” which earned her a Tony nomination. She’s also graced the stage performing in Hamilton as well as the Lifetime drama series, UnREAL. As her career was taking off, Benton made a public declaration to land roles “proving that women that look like her can save the day,” she told The New York Times.
Introducing The People’s Princess: #PeggyHive
This year, The Gilded Age entered its third season in style. The show is a fictitious rendition of New York’s prominent, wealthy families as they navigate the rigid rules of their pristine society before the turn of the 20th century. Those who have never seen the show could easily dismiss it as another historical piece that whitewashes historical events with a Beaux-Arts-inspired aesthetic. While it’s true that viewers are seduced by the grandeur and extravagance of the period, make no mistake — the latest season gives us something we’ve never seen before on this scale. Fans are given a glimpse at the groundwork of the first wave of Black feminism and Black upward mobility post-Reconstruction Era on-screen.
The 33-year-old phenom is at the center of it, bringing life to her character Peggy Scott. Scott is an aspiring journalist and novelist who befriends an estranged niece of the van Rhijns, where she becomes the secretary of the aunt who serves as the family’s matriarch. Benton plays alongside Cynthia Nixon, Brian Stokes Michael, as well as the iconic Grammy and Tony-winning actress and singer, Audra McDonald, who plays her mother, and renowned Shakespearean thespian John Douglas Thompson, who portrays her father. Benton’s character is an ode to Black women abolitionists and activists such as Ida. B. Wells, who fought and organized for Black women’s right to vote.
Benton recalls that after posting some behind-the-scenes clips on her account and HBO Max’s socials, she playfully used the hashtag #PeggyHive and was overjoyed when it went viral. “Literally within three days, there were like 20,000 Black women who followed me. And I was like, ‘Oh, my God, there’s a real Peggy-hive!’”
Now, with the growing #Peggyhive and “Da Guild” fandom in tow, Benton is ready to embrace her unofficial title as the “People’s Princess.”
“Peggy really is the people’s princess to me. It’s special getting to play the characters that would have changed me as a younger person. I’m excited to see Peggy continue to evolve into her power, and get to kind of move and move into her Birkin bag a little bit too.” Benton embraces the complexities and historical significance of the character and argues that Peggy Scott is also a radical hero.
“Peggy represents freedom. We are watching her live through a time where it’s really life or death. She’s the American Girl doll of my dreams. We need a Peggy doll.” Look out, Addy Walker, Peggy Scott is coming for your spot, girl.
Representation And Honing Your Skills Among The Greats
Benton playfully warned me that she was going to “to talk my shit a little bit ”about the show’s latest season’s accomplishments. Unlike the previous seasons, the show saw a series high of 5 million views, according to reports.
“Season three is where we got the most landscape for the Black elite storyline. And I love that those two things happened at the same time, because I also think [that’s the reason] we saw a big expansion in our Black viewership. And it just makes me proud that so many of us who are starring in the show are theater and television artists.”
Benton believes Black people would participate in the arts more if they felt invited. “Hire us to write it, hire us to direct it. We are such a supportive culture. You know what I mean? The number of people that I’m running into on the street who say, ‘I wasn’t gonna watch The Gilded Age, until I heard we were in it, and then I started watching it. ’ I’m convinced that that is what was also a part of our viewership increasing. We love to support each other. Erasing black people is bad for the economy, artistically and governmentally.
Benton has proven that she moves and listens with intention. It’s why she comes off as such a natural, despite performing alongside artists who have been acting longer than she’s been alive. Never one to be intimidated, she embraced the opportunity to ask her co-stars and crew questions about their craft, to improve her art moving forward.
“Audra (McDonald) is just the realest woman in the room. She moves with so much humility to be one of the greatest living performers on Earth. I’ve asked Cynthia and John Douglas Thompson to coach me for auditions, just because they’re actors. Ms. Phylicia Rashad is a teacher in her spirit, and if you ask her a question, she will answer with so much depth. She’s almost five decades into her career and is still directing Pulitzer Prize-winning art on Broadway. I look at all these people and I can see the legacy that they’ve built, and those are the footsteps I’d like to walk in.”
Benton views her creativity as spiritual work as well. “You channel a part of your soul and the character’s soul to [tap into] extreme imagination and empathy, [which is] part of the magic we do as actors.”
Practive Self-Care Like Denée Benton
Make no mistake, Benton takes her art seriously, so when it is time to unwind, she transforms into a “skincare girlie.” While stage makeup can be brutal on the skin, Benton relies on products such as Caudalie’s Double-Cleanser Duo to remove the impurities from her face. “It’s an oil cleanser that you use to remove the makeup off before you use your face wash, which is something that I learned from the old school girlies who used cold creams.”
To stay bright-eyed and camera-ready, Benton relies on Faded Under Eye Brightening & Clearing Eye Masks from Black-owned beauty brand Topicals. “I also love that everyone starts their morning with the under-eye masks,” she stated. On the TV series, Benton is often wearing Clinique’s Black Honey Almost There Lip Balm, which has become a staple in her bag. For Benton, having a “lip moment, a good under-eye soothing cream and making sure your face is clean” are her three must-haves.
When asked about her personal style, Benton couldn’t hide behind her flushed cheeks. Before she answered, an innocent laughter escaped her.
“When I look back over the decade of different press cycles I’ve done, it’s vulnerable to grow in the public eye. Personal style is vulnerable because you just discover different parts of yourself as you grow. And how I present myself now is not how I presented myself five years ago or five years before that. I think for me, it’s just like making peace with change and trying to make it feel more playful and growth instead of something [that needs] correcting.”
When it comes to Benton’s personal style, she looks for inspiration from Rachel Scott of Diotima, who is known for their craftsmanship and structure. “All of her work is rooted in culture, yet so universal.” She also noted how she views fashion as an extension of her own talents, which is why designers like Rachel Scott are always on her radar. “For us to be in such a clout-chasing industry, it’s really exciting to find artists that are rising to that level of craftsmanship.”
“We talk about this in every generation [about] being a dark skinned Black American woman in Hollywood. You can get all of the awards and credits that a white actor gets, and the same path doesn’t unfold for you. It’s easy to get locked in the fear of what it could mean to get invisibilized. And I have to really purge that from my system. That’s not my reality, and that’s not going to be my experience, because this is my calling. I feel the characters I play end up being in service to something that feels bigger than me. I trust that the same energy and spirit that has brought me the roles I’ve done so far will keep moving for the rest of my career.”
Evolving As A Multi-Hyphenate Talent
As Benton moves forward in her career, she is not concerned about being typecast or pigeonhole in a specific genre or role. “I don’t want to be trapped by anyone else’s limited imagination, and I will just keep fighting for that. I trust that I’m going to get to keep shining.” In fact, she is grounded in her sense of self, as evident in her Kuumba tattoo, which is a Kwanzaa principle that means creativity.
“It’s easy to get locked in the fear of what it could mean to get invisibilized. And I have to really purge that from my system. That’s not my reality, and that’s not going to be my experience, because this is my calling. I feel the characters I play end up being in service to something that feels bigger than me. I trust that the same energy and spirit that has brought me the roles I’ve done so far will keep moving for the rest of my career.”
When asked about her dream roles, she offers HelloBeautiful the bigger picture.
“I have more dream creators like Michaela Cole, Guillermo del Toro, and Tessa Thompson. When I think of someone who makes me feel empowered, [I think of] (fellow Floridian) Doechii. Women know how to interpret for other people. [Now, Black women are] in positions where they are the powerful creators themselves, and they are assembling teams to create the stories they want to tell. And that’s my ultimate dream. I want to keep working and being cast, but I also want to be a visionary. I have dreams of getting to do my first movie-musical, and I would love to produce it.” But like any theater kid, Benton has a dream performance that she would love to present in the scope of her imagination.
“I would love to play Lady Macbeth. That’s another idea I don’t want anyone to steal,” Benton confirmed. But she doesn’t want to discourage anyone who wants to work with her. Benton is ecstatic to explore other genres such as sci-fi and magical realism.
Up next, you can catch Denée Benton in Dreams in Nightmares, an indie, queer drama centering on three friends who travel cross-country to locate their friend who has suddenly dropped off the grid.
But no matter the next role – whether she plays another Black historical heroine or an Afrofuturistic baddie — she will always be the Southern girl who enjoys her culture and boiled peanuts while intentionally taking up space, unapologetically.
“When I look back over the decade of different press cycles I’ve done, it’s vulnerable to grow in the public eye. Personal style is vulnerable because you just discover different parts of yourself as you grow. And how I present myself now is not how I presented myself five years ago or five years before that. I think for me, it’s just like making peace with change and trying to make it feel more playful and growth instead of something [that needs] correcting.”
“It’s an oil cleanser that you use to remove the makeup off before you use your face wash, which is something that I learned from the old school girlies.” And to stay bright-eyed and camera-ready, Benton relies on the perfect under-eye mask from Black-owned beauty brand Topicals. “I also love that everyone starts their morning with the under-eye masks.”
Social Credits
Talent: @deneebenton
Photographer: @rubcha
Writer: @blerdywomanist
SVP of Content: @alliemcgev
VP of Content: @kwestsavali
Editorial Director: @shamika_sanders
Social Media Manager: @charmasona
VP of Social: @victoria.denise.c
Photo Assistant: @leoncookierottner
Cinematographer: @the_constantine_lens
Wardrobe: @mickeyboooom
Hair: @arianascanvas
Makeup: @andrewfdangelo
Manicurist: @thatguythatdoesnails
Producer: @jbthegawd
Production Company: @theoraclemedia
IN THIS ISSUE
‘Gilded Age’ star Denée Benton had a clear vision for her HelloBeautiful cover shoot. Edgy. That meant leaving Peggy’s eccentric corsets and pettiskirts in the wardrobe closet and stepping into something that felt more like her Brooklyn hipster swag on a sunny Saturday. With gold grills and cowrie shell’s in her box braids, Benton was […]
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