Josh Lucas Praises The Powerhouse Cast Of Palm Royale & Kristen Wiig’s Depth

Palm Royale explores the world of the rich and powerful in Palm Beach in 1969. Maxine Simmons dreams of breaking into the fantastical world of the influential and wealthy. When she and her husband are the heirs to one of the most important figures in Palm Beach, Florida, Maxine snatches the opportunity to become one of the haves instead of the have-nots. The series also explores real-life issues of the era, including sexism and racism.

Kristen Wiig leads Palm Royale’s powerhouse cast, including the legendary Carol Burnett, Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, and Amber Chardae Robinson. The series is based on Juliet McDaniel’s novel, Mr. & Mrs. American Pie. Abe Sylvia brought his creative vision to the project as executive producer, writer, and director, along with director and executive director Tate Taylor, taking inspiration from lifestyle photographer Slim Aarons.

Screen Rant interviewed Palm Royale star Josh Lucas about his new period comedy. He praised Wiig’s skills as a deep actor and shed light on his character’s backstory. Lucas also shared his desire to continue playing young John Dutton in Yellowstone and how he balanced shooting the Western at the same time as Palm Royale.

Palm Royale Star Definitely Felt The Power Of The Cast

Screen Rant: This show is absolutely stunning, and you do such a fantastic job as Douglas.

Josh Lucas: Thank you. Caitlin. Nice to talk to you. Yeah, cool.

Can you tell me a little bit about Douglas and how the darkness of this seemingly shiny happy world corrupts him?

Josh Lucas: Well, Douglas comes from this world originally, right? That’s one of the, I don’t want to say spoilers of it all, but you find out that he truly is of this world. He’s a blue blood from Palm Beach who basically met his dream woman in Kristen Wiig’s character, went off, and ran away from this world because he thought it was horrible. And so the idea of her coming back and wanting to come back into it to sort of claim their being the heirs to the fortune, the Delacorte fortune, right? So in the process, Douglas, he’s not the brightest bulb.

He’s full of mischievous energy because he’s always looking for the next get rich scheme. He’s a mess, and he’s a mess in such a wonderful way to play because I think he always has her best interest at heart and their best interest at heart, but he always makes the wrong choice. He’s just filled with so much kind of heart in a weird way, but at the same time, he’s like a puppy dog who’s just not a very bright puppy dog, that’s for sure.

This show has an amazing cast across the board, and you have so many great scenes with Kristen Wiig. Is there one that maybe stands out where she really knocked it out of the park as a scene partner and helped you almost elevate your own performance?

Josh Lucas: It happened so often. I always say the thing about this show that blew my mind going into it, they said during the negotiation, they said, “Josh, you’re the only actor who’s not been nominated for an Oscar, or isn’t a comedy legend, or isn’t an internationally renowned pop star or supermodel.” I definitely felt the power of this cast behind me coming into it, but particularly because I knew my work was primarily going to be opposite Kristen.

And Kristen, I think, is not just an incredibly gifted comedic actress, but the thing that makes her work so unusual is that she’s also filled with this deep depth and heartbreak to all of her characters. And so every scene that we would come into with each other, there was this true, in a way, it was like a comedic battle, but it was also really playing with each other, really throwing things back and forth.

But we didn’t actually, a lot of people think like, “Oh, you probably improvised a lot,” because Kristen’s a master improviser. But this script was very, very tight actually. And there wasn’t a day that I left, or the challenge was going into it knowing that you were playing ball against somebody who was playing at such a high level. I just wanted to be able to match it and play with it and enjoy it, because Douglas, I think, is kind of fearless in his idiocy in a way. So it was so much fun to play.

Yellowstone Is One Of Josh Lucas’ Favorite Jobs

I have to ask this question because my dad will just give me such a disappointed look if I don’t. He’s a huge Yellowstone fan. So I’m curious if you’re interested in exploring that world further, maybe with a young John Dutton’s prequel series.

Josh Lucas: First of all, thank your dad. Screen Rant has really been lovely to me because they’ve talked about that consistently in some of the articles that Screen Rant has done. And it means a lot to me when people reach out to me asking about me playing the young John Dutton or having a prequel series. And what was striking about Palm Royale is that I was shooting Palm Royale and playing Douglas on the weekdays and flying on Friday night to Montana, slapping on a mustache and putting on basically Costner’s voice to play young John Dutton. And it was my weekend job.

And so it was a crazy, almost duality or bipolar reality because obviously John Dutton is a dark, powerful, mysterious figure, and I’m basing it all on what Kevin has done. But I also think it’s a world that I would absolutely love to explore further. And I can’t tell you how incredible being with those horses on that place with the history of what Taylor’s built with that show and those characters, it’s one of my favorite jobs of my life.

I love that. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. Palm Royale is so much fun, and I love Douglas’s Journey, and I love that you described him as a puppy. That’s just the funniest thing to me.

Josh Lucas: He’s like a dumb laborador puppy.

About Palm Royale

“Palm Royale” is a true underdog story that follows Maxine Simmons (Kristen Wiig) as she endeavors to break into Palm Beach high society. As Maxine attempts to cross that impermeable line between the haves and the have-nots, “Palm Royale” asks the same question that still baffles us today: “How much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to get what someone else has?” Set during the powder keg year of 1969, “Palm Royale” is a testament to every outsider fighting for their chance to truly belong.

Check back soon for our other Palm Royale interviews:

• Amber Chardae Robinson
• Abe Sylvia & Katie O’Connell
• Tate Taylor & John Norris