The creator of “Palm Royale” suffered from “impostor syndrome” because of Carol Burnett’s role

While Carol Burnett makes Emmy Award history this weekend, Abe Sylvia looks back on his collaboration with the comedy legend.

The Palm Royale The creator explained that he was suffering from “the biggest imposter syndrome” after Burnett landed the role of wealthy, comatose matriarch Norma Dellacorte in his Apple TV+ series, which was renewed for a second season in June.

“I didn't have anyone in mind. But we have a fantastic casting director, Kerry Barden, and he really encouraged us to reach for the stars,” he recalled to Collider. “It was his idea to cast Carol Burnett for Norma. I said, 'I don't know. She's in a coma. Does that seem too small?' And he was like, 'Let's just ask. It doesn't hurt to ask.' And when Carol said yes, I went to my office and cried with the biggest imposter syndrome. I thought, 'Who am I to be at this party?'”

For this role, Burnett received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. At 91, she is the oldest actress nominated in an Emmy competition.

Palm Royale Kristen Wiig plays Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons, an outsider trying to fit into the high society of Palm Beach, Florida, in 1969 at the town's exclusive eponymous country club. The series also stars Laura Dern, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, Amber Chardae Robinson and Allison Janney.

Sylvia continued, “But once the actors were cast, I looked at it like a dress fitting. If the script is a costume, the actor comes in and tries it on, and you're going to tighten it, you're going to pull up the hem, you're going to put a dart in, you're going to lower the neckline. Actors have rhythms, especially in comedy, and you start to adapt speech patterns to the particular actors you've cast. And then as we got to know the actors, there were these reserves of talent, even in the depths of talent that we were dealing with in our particular cast. As we got to know them, we realized, 'There's this reserve of this person that the world has never seen before, so let's make sure we showcase it.' … And so it's really exciting going into Season 2 because we know from the beginning where our extraordinary cast can go.”

After the series' second season was renewed, Sylvia announced that filming will begin in late September. “We've been writing season 2 for the last seven months. We're already in the middle of it,” he said.