Kristen Wiig On Her ‘Palm Royale’ Character Maxine: ‘We Wanted To Make Her Likable Even Though She Was Doing Things That Were Not That Likable”- Contenders TV
14.04.2024 - 20:13
/ deadline.com
Palm Royale‘s Kristen Wiig, Josh Lucas, director Tate Taylor and writer and showrunner Abe Sylvia joined Deadline’s Contenders TV event Sunday to talk about the likability of the characters, some of the tough topics they’ve tackled and how the Palm Beach setting helped amplify the comedy of the show.
In its first season on Apple TV+, Kristen Wiig’s character, Maxine Simmons, is an ambitious woman who schemes to secure her seat at America’s most exclusive table: Palm Beach high society circa 1969. Along the way, Wiig’s character meets a number of personalities who play some part in this socialite town with an ensemble that includes Ricky Martin, Allison Janney, Laura Dern, Leslie Bibb, Josh Lucas and Carol Burnett.
When it came to whether audiences should be rooting for Simmons or not, Wiig said, “Maxine is very ambitious and will stop at nothing to get what she wants but that twist of being so sunny and positive while she is doing it, makes you think “Wait I think I like her.” We wanted to make her likable even though she was doing things that were not that likeable.”
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Based on the novel Mr. and Mrs. American Pie, Sylvia noted that the original book was set in Palm Springs but they chose to move it to Palm Beach as it gave the writers a “bigger canvas to play with.”
“We built out the world, a book is one thing but a sustainable series is another so you need to make sure you have all the pieces you need, so adding characters like Carol’s (Burnett) character and expanding Alison Janney’s character, so once we have a cast like this you go ‘Oh my goodness have we utilized everybody to their fullest potential.’ We wanted to leave nothing on the field when we got into