On a recent Thursday night in Beverly Hills, the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre transformed into 1960s Palm Beach for the premiere of the Apple TV+ series “Palm Royale,” which stars Kristen Wiig as Maxine, a relentless social climber desperate to fit into high society. The mid-century themed pink carpet featured a Tanqueray bar, gold chandeliers, plenty of lush Florida greenery, and staff wearing special Palm Royale polos, in a nod to the elite country club where the show unfolds.
Wiig, who also executive produces “Palm Royale,” told PvNew what drew her to the series: “I just thought the writing was unlike anything I’ve ever read —so many incredible female characters. I loved Maxine. And also just, you know, when reading, all 10 of them are funny or sad, they’re kind of everything, and that’s just the kind of stuff I love to watch.”
The ensemble cast has no shortage of A-list talent. Joining Wiig on the carpet were fellow cast members Allison Janney, Carol Burnett, Leslie Bibb, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Kaia Gerber, Jason Canela and more. While co-star and executive producer Laura Dern wasn’t present at the premiere, her producing partner Jayme Lemons spoke about her progressive character Linda, who represents the 1960s counterculture.
Lemons shared, “Linda was written from the ground up for Laura, with Laura’s input as to what kind of character she might be, and how a character like Linda might sort of subvert all the goings on with those women and how she might be a little bit of an outsider.”
Meanwhile, Janney plays Evelyn, the reigning queen of Palm Beach high society. She reflected on her character’s multifaceted nature and what it took to look the part: “I loved her desperation for glamour, her vulnerability, her strengths — just everything. And Alix Friedbeg, our costume designer, put me in so many fun clothes and my hairstylist Jill Crosby created the most wonderful confections of hairstyles on me. At one point, I think I had four wigs on my head. It was crazy. But I love all of the details of the style and the design elements of every part of the show.”
Janney was thrilled to be working with comedy legend Carol Burnett, saying, “She’s one of my heroes. As a young girl, once I saw her on ‘The Carol Burnett Show’, it was my must-see TV. I watched it every week. I love her so much. So to get to work with her is beyond a dream come true. I never even thought that was a possibility.”
Janney and Burnett are even Wordle partners now —they text each other their results every day. But who’s better at the beloved New York Times game? Janney revealed, “[Burnett] is hands down. She beats me all the time… She gets an average of two and below and I get it mostly in four.”
Meanwhile, Burnett kept Ricky Martin on his toes with little off-script surprises while shooting.
Martin, who plays a country club employee, told PvNew, “I felt like I won the lotto because everybody was so open to ideas, everybody was so open to leave the script aside and improvise. And I had a very beautiful scene with Carol Burnett where, you know, she’s in a coma in the show…and she would open her eyes. She would make me laugh, because it’s comedy… And I was like ‘Wait, wait, wait, let’s do this again, because this is impossible!’ But that’s her, it’s wonderful.”
The sun-drenched “Palm Royale” blends comedy and drama as it explores issues related to class differences, womanhood, politics and other pertinent topics. Producer and director Tate Taylor spoke to a message at the heart of the show: “What I loved about it is how even the rich people — the people we all think have it perfect — they’re trying to find greener grass. And then you get in that grass — it’s not that much greener and I love that. I love the lesson of ‘Palm Royale,’ is that being content is what you should seek and it’s hard to do.”
“Palm Royale” hits Apple TV+ on March 20.
