‘Palm Royale’: Carol Burnett Teases She Knows Everyone’s Secrets in Apple TV+ Series
Preview
“Everybody has a chance to score,” says an awestruck Carol Burnett of working among a heavy-hitting cast of scene-stealers — the famous faces include Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, and Laura Dern — in Palm Royale, a raucous series about life at a swanky Palm Beach, Florida, country club in 1969. However, the icon could also be talking about the many ambitious (and duplicitous) characters that populate the show, which is loosely based on Juliet McDaniel’s novel Mr. and Mrs. American Pie.
The 10 episodes (three premiere March 20 before moving to a weekly format) begin with Wiig’s penniless Maxine Simmons, who will cross any line to become a part of the Palm Beach elite. She sneaks into the Palm Royale, where she meets snooty Evelyn Rollins (Mom’s Janney), the de facto ruler of the club’s wealthy lady clique.
(Credit: Apple TV+)
The real queen bee is Burnett’s Norma Dellacorte. “Most of the people in that society, they’re afraid of her because she has a lot of secrets on them,” the six-time Emmy winner explains. “She’s not a very nice person.”
She’s also in a coma, the result of a life-threatening embolism. At the start of the show, we see Norma in bed, eyes shut (though always dressed to the nines). Were there challenges for Burnett in coma-acting? “Not really. I’m pretty good at lying still,” she says with a laugh. “I said, ‘You mean I’m getting paid for this?'”
But Norma is still very much awake in flashbacks. One episode even shows a montage of her elaborate and elegant party costumes — Cleopatra and Botticelli’s Venus among them — for the annual Beach Ball Gala. “I’m from the theater, so I can make a costume change in about two minutes,” Burnett says. “That sequence only took half a day.”
And though it all sounds like summer fun, Palm Royale is certainly not all laughs. “It’s a bit of a frolic at the beginning,” the actress reveals. “Then it gets darker as you watch it.” We’ll consider ourselves warned!
Palm Royale, Premieres Wednesday, March 20, Apple TV+
