Why Kristen Wiig was a hard ‘yes’ on starring in ‘Palm Royale’

By Marianne Garvey, CNN

(CNN) — It was a “yes across the board” for Kristen Wiig to play the lead in “Palm Royale,” a new Apple TV+ comedy set in Palm Beach high society in 1969.

From the costumes to the set design, the series highlights the colorful glam of the era. Wiig plays Maxine, a social climber trying to land with the right movers and shakers in Palm Beach. She also executive produces, along with Laura Dern, who calls Wiig the “perfect Maxine” and the only person they had in mind for the role.

“From getting a call from Laura Dern to reading the scripts and meeting everyone involved, it was really just, yes, across the board,” Wigg told CNN in a recent interview about the project. “I’ve never played a character like Maxine before and it honestly was just a gut feeling. You just kind of know in those cases whether it’s gonna be like a yes or a no. And this was just a very, very strong yes.”

Her costar Josh Lucas, who plays opposite Wiig as her pilot husband Douglas, called working on the series with the “Saturday Night Live” alumna a “dream.”

“We can’t overstate it,” Lucas told CNN. “Everything from the costume design, the sumptuous, extraordinary production design, and everything filled us with this reality of this world that is fictional in a way, but is completely based in this real world of what the late 1960s uber wealth, Palm Beach, mixed with the historical time that’s going on, all of it.”

A blend of humor, satire and mystery, “Palm Royale” also features Carol Burnett, Bruce Dern, Allison Janney, Amber Chardae Robinson, Julia Duffy, Leslie Bibb, Kaia Gerber, Mindy Cohn and Ricky Martin.

Martin plays Robert in the series, a man who works at the exclusive beach club and initially doesn’t trust Maxine. He says working with Wiig was inspiring.

“It was wonderful to walk into the makeup room every day and just read lines with her. That set would set the tone for the rest of the day,” Martin said. “I’m very thankful because she’s just so generous. Even in moments where I felt nervous, she was there, her presence was very comforting. And I will always be very thankful for that.”

“Palm Royale” premieres March 20 on Apple TV+.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.