From her first major film role in 1997’s The Assignment, Claudia Ferri has made a career out of portraying complex, capable, and charismatic women on screen.
Fluent in several languages, she has won acting accolades on multilingual productions for both comedy and drama.
Currently, as Raquel Kimberly-Marco on Apple TV’s Palm Royale, Claudia Ferri exudes a glamorous confidence and subtle aggression as the Cuban ex-pat character who navigates the perilous waters of Palm Beach society alongside her mobster husband, Pinky.
Speaking exclusively with TV Fanatic from Santa Monica via Zoom, Ferri shares her insights about Raquel’s motivations and purpose, hinting that there are layers to the character yet to be revealed.
Claudia Ferri as Palm Royale’s Raquel Kimberly-Marco
We adore Palm Royale and would venture to say that Palm Royale Season 2 is even better than Season 1. What are your thoughts on the show’s growth and development?
I think it [might be better] because it took a while to establish the premise, the characters, and then some wonderful actors got added on as they were going. And they thought, “Oh my gosh, we have these wonderful actors. We have to write for them.”
They have an awesome writing team. Leading with Abe Sylvia, Sharr White, Sheri Holman, Kelly Hutchison, and Logan Faust… Kelly Hutchison and Logan Faust wrote Episode 4, and I realized that these two specifically … they got me. They got something out of me that surprised me.
And that’s very rare. I’ve been doing this for a very long time. I rarely laugh at my stuff, but I did. The reaction that their writing provoked was really cool. And that happens — when it’s not all spelled out, when the way it’s written, it facilitates discovery on the spot.
A Space to Create
Of course, I have to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Stephanie Laing directed Episode 4. Abe Sylvia is our showrunner. You’ll find when you talk to different players, whether it’s behind the scenes or actors, that they really give us carte blanche.
They give us so much space to come and shine our light in every department. I’ve heard that from dancers. I’ve heard that from stunt, from the composers. I think it’s like that also for set design. I’m just guessing.
Everybody is in a conversation together, and it shows. This comes from the top down. When they allow the space for the creators to open up and unleash what they have. It’s wonderful because you have a greater pool of creativity that you can tweak.
Diving In
How did you find Raquel’s space on this cast filled with larger-than-life characters and performers?
That’s a very on-point question. I remember the first day that I met everyone at once. They all came — Tate Taylor, Abe Sylvia, Cleta Ellington. Cleta’s our First AD (as well as co-producer), so she was going to be really present. It was basically a few heads of departments that were there, and a number of producers.
And I was just coming out of my trailer. We’d just done tests for hair, wardrobe, and makeup. I was still very much in awe, but what I said to them when I stepped out of my trailer, and I saw them was, “Wow. I really feel… I’ve been doing this for nearly 40 years, and I feel like the new kid on the block.”
On screen, I’m literally flanked by Allison Janney, Carol Burnett, Kristen Wiig… all these monuments! RICKY MARTIN!
To work with people that you have admired, that you have aspired to emulate in their talent… all of a sudden — BOOM! — you’re catapulted in with all these people. I call it landing in the heart of my Hollywood dreams.
But it did come with some anxiety at first because you know that they know what they’re doing. I knew what I was doing, but I knew that I was stepping in with people who have had a career and set a bar really high.
These are Oscar winners, Emmy winners, Golden Globe winners, and many prestigious film festival winners. It’s a little scary. And you hope to God that you’re going to be on par so that you’ll inspire the writers to write more for you.
Support From All Quarters
I have to say that I’m surrounded with wonderful humans on this show. In the makeup and hair trailer, we have Marie Del Prete. We had Jill Crosby. Right now, I have Tiffany Bloom. We also had Cyndra Dunn, who was doing my hair in Season 1.
One day, I remember I was so anxious. It was Season 1, and I was kind of fed up with the anxiety that I was feeling, and something had to be said out loud. And who do you confide in if not your hairdresser and makeup artist?
So, Jill Crosby is not my hairdresser. She was specifically there with Allison Janney and has been working with her for nearly 20 years. But these two were in the trailer when I came back to bring false lashes that I forgot to give just a few minutes before, and I said, “Okay, permission to speak freely.”
And I just said, “Look, I don’t know that I can deal with this anxiety anymore. It’s so much.” And they dropped everything and gave me this wonderful Oreo cookie hug.
Whatever they said, they said the right thing, and it eased me profoundly. They said something like, “Just the fact that you are here, in this trailer, on this production, is because you belong.”
I’m guessing that this might be something that a lot of actors feel when we land in the heart of our, quote-unquote, “Hollywood dreams.” The fear. Is this for real? Is it gonna last? Truth of the matter, if you’re part of the project, you are a part of the project.
So, I embrace every minute, every moment. Season 2 was very different for me because I decided to say, “Thank you very much for the anxiety. I know I care. Now I can wrap it up and put it in a box that I burn. Now I’m going to work. And I’m going to have fun. I’m going to enjoy myself.”
And I really had a lot of fun in Season 2.
Digging For the Real Raquel
What do you think of Raquel as a person?
She is, for me, in my choices, the most inauthentic of them all. She’s authentically fake. She’s authentically false in the sense that there is nothing genuine right now about her other than posing.
For me, Raquel is a poser. At this point. Until we see otherwise, until there’s more, but there’s been a lot of posing and reacting.
If you look at even Palm Royale Season 2 Episode 1, all the mannerisms are really borrowed from somebody that [she’s] witnessed. And it’s a need to belong in society, in the level of society that she wants to belong to. And I think she’s going about it all in mannerisms, posing, and posturing.
You know how writers have their own idea of who the person is, and then the actor comes in and maybe gives other ideas? I don’t have the information that the writers have in the back of their minds, so I have to do something.
And because I landed in a jungle of iconic, monumental actors and characters, I was really just reacting. There was no source of a real problem that [she has].
This, to me, lands in [Palm Royale Season 2 Episode 4], which is the first time that we see Raquel wanting something — she wants the house — and she’s not going to get it. It’s the first time you get a “Ah! Oh.”
Otherwise, you have the posing of “Come, come to my party!” in Season 1. I, as an actress, have to connect somewhere with the heart, even if the character is unpleasant. Where does it come from? At this point, because of the hierarchy of the characters, I don’t know that we have quite gotten there yet.
I’m going on this journey with all the doors unlocked. They’re not open, but they’re unlocked. At any time in the story, something could happen for Raquel. I just hope to God that she stays.
A Real Cast of Characters
What have you learned about your fellow cast members over the two seasons of filming?
I discovered Julia [Duffy] — yes, of course, she was in Newhart and on TV, she’s been there for so long — but I discovered the individual on set, and she is the wittiest, so funny. She will throw away one or two lines and have us in pieces because she is so funny.
I was also surprised … I was used to seeing Josh Lucas in serious roles. I’d never seen him in a comedy. It was like, “Oh my god, you really play a goof!” And it’s really funny to see him in this. He does it really well.
The juxtaposition of the men’s goofiness in the background of these amazing women characters speaks to the landscape of the show, doesn’t it?
And also perspective. There was a lot of that at the end of the ’60s, early ’70s. Revolution was brewing. It started with the women’s lib, but why was this happening? It was happening because the patriarchy of the time was pigeonholing women in roles that were so artificial.
The Stepford Wives model was not a model that allowed a woman to speak her own voice. And I think Palm Royale does that really well.
It’ll always bring to the forefront women who have so much ambition, intelligence, conniving… You need to be intelligent to be conniving. You’re looking for ways in or ways out or ways around.
The Heart of the Matter
These women in 3D with the background of men — aside from Robert. He’s the heart. Him and [Maxine]. They go about it in different ways, but both of them have such a huge heart, and that’s really important.
Look at Douglas. He falters. He’s, by all standards, an idiot. With a heart. That’s always where I go back to. Where’s the heart? We relate, as viewers, with the heart. Even if somebody is incompetent, vile.
I always say that I would love to play a villain, either for Walt Disney or for the Avengers franchise, because they allow us to go into why they turned bad, why they turned evil.
I’m there with Raquel, I would say. I’m still searching on where? why? Because right now, she’s not pleasant. Is she really serious when she says, “And now Pinky doesn’t have to kill you!”?
We don’t really know the strength of this woman. I think that all the women, and we have to include Raquel, we’re all on survival mode.
That’s why I approach everything with Raquel as giving it room for her to turn a corner. What will the writers bring? I don’t know. But I know one thing. It’s that Raquel is in survival mode.
When you signed onto Palm Royale Season 1, did you expect as many big musical productions as you’ve been a part of?
Boy, no! I didn’t! It was very interesting because Abe Sylvia is a dancer to start with — he did Broadway. I think that this opens and facilitates the structure to bring up shows and pieces like we have. The opening segment of Season 2 is just legendary.
But, you would be surprised to know that for the Season 1 Episode 4 scene where Raquel dances the rumba with Robert, I had one session that lasted an hour, and I asked to go the second day.
They were happy with that. I wanted to have at least a chance to practice before we shot with Ricky, which we did. You have to have a really, really good choreographer and a great team of assistants and dancers that are gonna take somebody like me, who is not a dancer.
But it’s always with a sort of a push over the edge. “Fly! Go! Spread your wings and do it!” We’re really well-supported, so whenever there is either a literal or figurative fall, they’re there to catch us.
Dressing the Part
I can’t talk with you about Palm Royale without discussing the costumes and wardrobe.
Of course! Alix Friedberg and Leigh Bell. A great team. In the wardrobe department, you also have the people who dress us. They’re all so amazing and present and there to support. Everyone is there doing their part and co-creating, co-supporting, and that is awesome.
Alix and Leigh Bell, her co-designer, work with set design. They work with the set decor. They work with the actors. So all the departments are like a nice machine that beautifully meshes. Jesse Sternbaum, the line producer, is extraordinary.
I was talking to Shawn Dyrdahl in Season 1. We were doing the casino scene. I was standing by. They were doing some shot where the pool is, with the bridge. I was saying, “Oh my gosh, how did you come up with such an amazing team?”
And Shawn was saying that Jesse and the producers hand-picked every single person from the very top to the very, hierarchically speaking, bottom of the ladder. Nothing’s taken lightly. Everything is considered, with a very strong creative goal in mind. The machine needs to work.
Raquel’s Look
Is there a specific outfit that defines Raquel for you?
I really like the one in Episode 4, the one we just saw. All the purple and blue, with the blue purse. It’s so loud. It tells you something about the women of the time.
They needed to shake out of this mold of whatever. This mold of “this is how things are, and you have to fit in the mold.” I’m not moldable, personally.
Claudia really like the little leopard dress that she wore in her bedroom Season 1. It fit so well. It’s something I would love to buy for myself. Raquel is definitely about leopard spots. There’s a lot of loudness.
You look at Kristen Wiig’s character, Maxine. There’s so much class. It’s not as jarring. What she wears is not jarring. Raquel wears jarring things. It’s calculated.
Costumes will change. As eras will change, costumes will change. I don’t know where the show is going to go. I’m very much curious. We get attached to a character, and we want to know how the baby’s gonna grow.
I’m so, so thrilled to be part of this project, to have landed this the way it happened. I was just minding my own business and got a call for an audition.
I delivered the audition, and a week later, they want a callback. And then the week after, an offer came in, so that was a shock. By then, I had discovered that Laura Dern was involved, that Kristen Wiig was going to be the lead.
Kristen, to me, is one of the greatest comedians of our time, preceded I say [by] Carol Burnett, who really opened the door for women in comedy in such a beautiful, heartfelt, genuinely playful way that allows anybody who’s having a hard time to sit down and forget about the troubles and laugh.
Kristen has that as well. She has the ability to be exceedingly moving, funny, unpredictable, versatile, and convincing.
I have a bucket list moment coming up, and I’m really happy about this. You’ll see it in Episode 6. I think it’s a great moment for women in comedy.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
New episodes of Palm Royale drop Wednesdays on Apple TV.
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