Warning: Palm Royale spoilers ahead!
Carol Burnett and Palm Royale creator Abe Sylvia shares his thoughts on the explosive first season finale of the 1960s thriller.
Burnett, 91, and Sylvia attended the Official Emmy For Your Consideration event on Saturday, May 11, at the Hollywood Athletic Club in Los Angeles, along with stars Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Leslie Bibb, Bruce Dern, Laura Dern, Kaia Gerber and Amber Chardae Robinson.
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE on the event’s red carpet, Burnett and the showrunner talked about the series finale, in which Martin’s character, Robert, solves the mystery of Burnett’s mysterious Norma — who killed her own roommate and stole her identity years ago and has lived as her ever since.
Carol Burnett and Kristen Wiig in “Palm Royale”.
Apple TV+
“I thought it was great,” Burnett says of the big turnaround. “I talked to Abe Sylvia, who writes it and all. Now there’s a whole new mystery about who she really is.”
“So if there’s a second season, I guess I’ll find out,” she adds.
Although Norma spends most of the series dazed and confused in bed recovering from an episode with diabetes, Burnett says she didn’t need much convincing to take on the role. put on your nightgown and go straight back to bed,” she jokes and replies “Hello!” when PEOPLE asked if it was a “dream job”.
The cast of ‘Palm Royale’ on May 11.
Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty
“I was really thrilled when she started coming out of it, but she still couldn’t, couldn’t speak,” Burnett continues of her character. “So I asked Abe and the directors, ‘What do you want me to do here?’ and they said, ‘Just talk.’ So I just made all this stuff up and I loved doing it.”
“It’s been a lot of fun trying to get people to understand what she’s saying, but she’s not succeeding. Not yet,” he adds. “And then, of course, it’s fun when he finally comes out of it and can talk. He doesn’t want everyone to know. It’s a secret.”
Sylvia, meanwhile, spoke about creating Burnett’s character from scratch, given that she doesn’t appear in the book the series is loosely based on, Juliet McDaniel Mr. and Mrs. American Pie.
“The twist isn’t in the book. In fact, Norma isn’t even a character in the book,” Sylvia tells PEOPLE. “The book is beautiful, and it’s a wonderful starting point for the series, but there are a lot of things added to it.” Although Burnett didn’t know about Norma’s twist until the show was halfway through filming, the host says the veteran actress was so excited about the finale. When Carol first came to Hollywood, after her success on Broadway, the first thing she was cast in was a sitcom called Here is Agnes,” he says, recalling Burnett’s storied career in Hollywood. “If only she had Here is Agnesit would never be The Carol Burnett Show. And she said, ‘God, wouldn’t that be awful? Here is Agnes, here is Agnes.’ And she told us this story.” “We named her Agnes on purpose. Just a little Easter egg for people who really know their Carol Burnett history, and she thought it was hilarious,” he adds.
Laura Dern reflects on first collaboration with father Bruce Dern on ‘Palm Royale’: ‘Difficult in the best way’
Kristen Wiig as Maxine and Allison Janney as Evelyn in ‘Palm Royale’.
Apple TV+
Also in the drama’s first season finale on May 8, protagonists Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons (Wiig) and Evelyn (Allison Janney) host the annual Beach Ball, which is attended by President Nixon. The night ends with secret identities being revealed, affairs exposed, and an assassination attempt on the president that results in another character being hit by an unrecoverable bullet.
In the Apple TV+ series, Wiig plays Maxine, an outsider who wants to fit in at the high-society resort of Palm Beach when she and her husband Douglas (Josh Lucas) move to his hometown.
Allison Janney’s dad is finally impressed with her career thanks Palm Royale Costar Carol Burnett (Exclusive)
According to the official plot synopsis, the 10-episode miniseries asks “the same question that still baffles us today: ‘How much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to get what someone else has?’ ”
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Palm Royale is available to stream in its entirety on Apple TV+.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education