Kristen Wiig in a scene from the series Palm Royale.Erica Parise/The Associated Press
Dramatic change was afoot in 1969. Human rights, racial equality, the Vietnam War and a man on the moon were just some of the conversations dominating headlines. But in the fictional world of Palm Royale, Apple TV+’s Palm Beach-set miniseries, wealthy women repress those powder keg issues in favour of their ultimate markers of success: wealth and social status.
The journey to climb that social ladder begins with Maxine, a former beauty pageant contestant played by Kristen Wiig. Despite limited connections and money, Maxine desperately targets the elite world of Palm Royale, Palm Beach’s most exclusive club. From there a colourful world of high fashion, cocktails and charity balls unfolds and Queen Bees, played by the likes of Allison Janney, Leslie Bibb and Carol Burnett, emerge.
Over 10 episodes, Maxine claws her way to the top with the help and hindrance of her husband, Douglas (Josh Lucas); a club employee named Robert (Ricky Martin); her manicurist Mitzi (Kaia Gerber); an activist named Linda (Laura Dern); and Linda’s partner Virginia (Amber Chardae Robinson). As Maxine frantically fights to earn her place on the Shiny Sheet (the society page in the local paper), she gives up more and more of herself.
Laura Dern speaks on stage at the Apple TV+ presentation of Palm Royale during the 2024 TCA Winter Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, on Feb. 5.Jerod Harris/Getty Images
Dern, who also executive produces, says Palm Royale is a subversive journey with heightened comedy, irreverence and operatic themes that speak to modern issues such as feminism and privilege. As for the picture-perfect Shiny Sheet, which fetes the who’s who of the club? There are numerous parallels to social media and how people present themselves online.
“These women would be comparing their number of followers by the pool, one million per cent,” Dern tells The Globe and Mail “Kaia Gerber has spoken so beautifully about how excited she is for her generation to watch the show because that’s the new club to be part of. But at the same time, it’s a generation’s opportunity to be aware of what’s happening around you in a way that many of us were isolated from. The hope is if you’re on social media, you don’t run from seeing what exists everywhere else.”
Dern and her Jaywalker Pictures producing partner Jayme Lemons adapted the series from Juliet McDaniel’s novel Mr. & Mrs. American Pie. Their goal was to create opportunities for women while exploring complicated characters and themes that might appear superficial but run deep in cultural and political ways.
“It’s a way to talk about how often we don’t step outside our own doors to see what’s happening around us because we’re clawing at the opportunity to be included,” Dern says.
The series takes place in Palm Beach, Fla., (versus Palm Springs, Calif., where the book is set) partially because it’s a place where world leaders historically hide. Further driving that theme are the look of the club and the way its players dress. The cinematography is inspired by famed socialite photographer Slim Aarons: Everything may look picture-perfect and pristine, but darkness hovers beyond the lens.
Kristen Wiig and Josh Lucas in Palm Royale.Erica Parise/The Associated Press
That tone cracks through in the second episode when Linda, a newly created character who is “dedicated to raising the collective consciousness of the global sisterhood,” proclaims she’s fighting to change societal norms for women now. “So our daughters will never have to fight for their personal freedom,” the character explains.
“We’re saying, ‘Can you believe that was like that then, and it’s still just like that now?’ It could be on the front page of the paper today, in Palm Beach,” Lemons says.
That line in particular hit home for Dern when she showed the cut to her mother, Diane Ladd, who had her marching in an equal rights amendment rally when she was 6, and her 19-year-old daughter, Jaya Harper, who Dern says is a fierce and passionate activist.
“To watch them laughing because they just couldn’t believe it, was exactly the tone we longed for,” Dern says. “You can’t even believe that we get swept up in the pulse of fear and longing to belong in such a huge way that we keep missing windows, we keep missing finding community despite our divide.”
Onscreen, the goal is to progressively immerse viewers in that world throughout Palm Royale’s summer season. As the women fight to raise the most money and tear each other down to be crowned “Queen of the Season,” the opulence of their parties grows exponentially. Each gala is designed as a character piece to make it easier for viewers to fall under the spell of that world.
To create a “Havana nights” party, production designed a pool and bridge inside the grand ballroom of the Biltmore hotel in downtown Los Angeles, recreating the famed Breakers hotel in Palm Beach. The scene called for 200 extras and feather-clad showgirls.
In the finale’s “Beach ball” scene, Wiig’s character wears a gown based on a 1967 Givenchy design, with a cape that comes off only to reveal the exact same dress underneath. Production also spent time on plenty of other lavish details, such as the vintage napkin holders at the dinner table.
Despite the excess, Palm Royale aims for a hopeful tone under the leadership of showrunner and director Abe Sylvia. Sure, the desperation to belong and maintain status often outweighs social responsibility and creates false narratives, but the series also looks at privilege as an opportunity for change.
“The larger theme is that you can change anything from anywhere, including the inside,” Dern says. “You can change yourself, your moral compass, your marriage, your activist heart by creating a revolution. You can pay for the sins that the generation before you egregiously committed. All of those themes are embedded in the show.”
Embedded, but wrapped in frivolity and excess.
“And we get to talk about them from inside a Technicolor ambrosia dessert with Carol Burnett as the cherry on top,” adds Lemons.
The first three episodes of Palm Royale begin streaming on Wednesday on Apple TV+.