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When Maxine Simmons enters a room all eyes are on her, for better or worse.
The “Palm Royale” lead, portrayed by Kristen Wiig, is quite the character. Hailing from Chattanooga, Tennessee, the former beauty pageant contestant has a thick Southern accent, bright blonde hair, quirky mannerisms, a great sense of style and is unapologetically herself. She also has a mission.
Set in 1969, the new Apple TV+ show debuted its first three episodes on March 20, introducing viewers to Maxine and her relentless attempt to be a part of the Palm Beach high society. It’s a story about the haves and the have-nots and the things people will do to be a part of the life of the rich and fabulous. The series is based on Juliet McDaniel’s 2018 book “Mr. & Mrs. American Pie” — though the novel and the series couldn’t be more different.
Maxine puts her plan into action while she tends to her husband Douglas’ (Josh Lucas) wealthy aunt and Queen Bee of Palm Beach Norma (Carol Burnett), who is in a coma after having an embolism. Norma is known for throwing the season-ending gala, the Beach Ball. While Norma is incapacitated, Maxine makes herself the new host of the highly anticipated event.
However, Ricky Martin’s character, Robert Diaz, a bartender at the Palm Royale Country Club and Norma’s caretaker, isn’t fooled by Maxine. He doesn’t believe she has the best intentions when it comes to Norma’s health and is only interested in her wealth.
As Wiig and Martin tell TODAY.com, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to both Maxine and Robert. One could even say that Maxine feels threatened by Robert and the two polar opposites have more in common than viewers see.
“It’s complicated,” Martin tells TODAY.com. “It’s complicated because I just don’t like her — but I think I don’t like her in the beginning because I see so much of her in me.”
“I also want to belong, I want to feel like I belong, and I think that’s the situation with Robert,” he continues, adding that Robert has been “embraced by the matriarch of society,” Norma Delacorte, “and she wants to steal that from me a little bit.”
In the first episode, Robert brings Maxine her go-to drink, a grasshopper, while she’s at the country club. She is ecstatic that he found crème de cacao for her cocktail, to which he replies that they “sent someone out for it.”
Maxine lets it slip that she might not be a member of the club when she asks Robert if she needs to sign a bill for her drink.
“Excuse me?” a confused Robert replies.
“Did I spill?” Maxine quickly quips, with Robert sternly replying, “In a manner.”
Robert is a Korean War veteran and also has a few secrets of his own despite being among the most honest characters in the show. This, Wiig says, is a “threat” to Maxine, who is trying to leave her former life behind.
“I think (Robert seeing the real Maxine) made him her biggest threat because he, I think, is the only person that really saw who she was,” Wiig explains. “Douglas knows she’s trying to get in with these women and this group, but he doesn’t really know all the stuff I’m doing to get there. And I just keep getting busted.”
Wiig says Maxine feels like she wants “to keep (Robert) away from everything because he really knows” her secrets. “So I think that’s something that keeps us really apart in the beginning, but then in the end is what kind of brings us together.”
Martin echoes Wiig’s sentiments about their characters’ evolving relationship.
“It morphs into so much love because, oh my god, she’s beat up,” he jokingly says. “She’s constantly being beaten up and I’m seeing this — and in the beginning, I’m a part of it — but then I just hold her hand and I’m like, ‘Come on, I’m gonna hold you. I’m going to protect you.’”
Though, Martin does tease that tensions will rise and fall in the coming episodes. He says, Robert “gets upset again with her because she’s protecting (Douglas) over me. So it’s confusing, but that’s the magic of our relationship.”
New episodes of “Palm Royale” stream on Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
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