{"id":643415,"date":"2026-08-18T11:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/643415\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T11:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:02:19","slug":"how-palm-royales-all-women-stunt-team-pulled-off-that-catfight-sequence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/643415\/","title":{"rendered":"How ‘Palm Royale’s’ All-Women Stunt Team Pulled Off That Catfight Sequence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAppleTV+\u2019s \u201cPalm Royale<\/a>\u201d made Emmy history when it landed nods for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Comedy Programming (Mallory Thompson) and Outstanding Stunt Performance (Colby Lemmo and Sonja Wajih) for Episode 6, \u201cMaxine Finds Herself.\u201d It marked the first time an all-women stunt team from the same series has been concurrently nominated in both categories.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the episode, Claudia Ferri and Kristen Wiig go all out and get into a fight after Raquel (Ferri) pulls a gun on Maxine (Wiig). From trashing bedrooms and throwing couches, the pair tumbles down stairs and has a chase across the lawn before ending up in the pool. While most fights are typically 20 seconds, this lasts a full three minutes.<\/p>\n

\n\tPutting the episode\u2019s stunt sequence together was exciting \u2014 particularly for Thompson, who said the script described the scene as a \u201cDynasty-style fight.\u201d Thompson was familiar with the reference in which Alexis (Joan Collins) and Krystle (Linda Evans) get into a catfight and fall down the stairs of the Carrington Mansion. \u201cPalm Royale\u201d took things further.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking with Variety, Thompson says, \u201cWe got to pitch as many different crazy things as we could think.\u201d Everything she pitched was approved by the episode\u2019s director Stephanie Laing and showrunner Abe Sylvia.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn putting it together, Thompson designed it with Wiig and Ferri in mind. \u201cI knew that they both wanted to do so much,\u201d she says.Thompson shot previs and used that as a map for when she would shoot with the actors and when the stunt doubles would step in. \u201cYes, it was very choreographed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sequence took over four days to shoot because of the different locations and required over 60 setups. Wajih admits that when it came to the stair fall, she found the setup hilarious. \u201cIt\u2019s always, Go fast, go hard, make it brutal.\u2019 And you usually die at the end of a stair fall. But this was, \u2018You\u2019re going to go down with Colby, and you\u2019re going to be entangled. It\u2019s going to be a catfight brawl down the stairs.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWigs, wardrobe, long acrylic nails and jewelry \u2014 all needed to factor in, as both characters were the epitome of glamorous and flamboyant Florida socialites. Wajih says, \u201cIt was all kind of tricky because we started with a dive onto one another, and Colby and I hold on to each other, but have moments of flailing, but we\u2019re also being mindful of not catching my heel in Colby\u2019s cover-up, or not catching my ring in anyone\u2019s wig, or in the stairs.\u201d She adds, \u201cIt was a funny choreographic creative element to go down together, and also have all those elements to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLemmo points out that it wasn\u2019t a simple staircase fall and was broken into three different steps because of how the stairs were designed. She also reveals where Wiig and Ferri actually intercut into the moment: \u201cWhen they are coming toward camera, that\u2019s them rolling and tumbling over each other, and then Sonja and I come down again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the two were entangled, Lemmo notes it was important to keep each other safe. \u201cIt was watching our heads. But when you\u2019re that entangled, you don\u2019t know which way is up, which way is down. Do I have Sonja\u2019s leg? Do I have her arm? We got down to the bottom, and Sonja said, \u201cI just needed to hold on to you. There\u2019s no real planning of how it\u2019s going to happen; you hold on, and tuck and roll, and you just go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe fight didn\u2019t end there; the pursuit continues with a chase across the lawn before they end up in the pool. Thompson says, \u201cWe pitched early on that we wanted to follow them into the water. That was a big ask because we have to get an underwater camera just for one shot, essentially, and but it just elevated it, and really brought it up to the \u2018Dynasty\u2019 level of ridiculousness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA special underwater camera rig was set up to capture Lemmo and Wajih as they hit the water. But with other scenes needing to be filmed, it was left for last. Not only was the team losing light, but they had only one take. Thompson explains, \u201cWe had to get them coming out of the house, running across the lawn, and throwing her shoe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Lemmo and Wajih needed an audio cue. Once they had figured that out, Wajih notes, the key to the underwater stunt wasn\u2019t just about wrestling. \u201cI\u2019m making sure not to drown Colby. She\u2019s making sure not to drown me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch the video below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AppleTV+\u2019s \u201cPalm Royale\u201d made Emmy history when it landed nods for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Comedy Programming (Mallory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643416,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,7612,117,19,17,9604,128],"class_list":["post-643415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-eire","tag-emmys","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-palm-royale","tag-tv"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117116177530681925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}