A wonderful exclusive conversation with Department Head and hair stylist KAREN BARTEK discussing her Emmy-nomination for Outstanding Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Hairstyling in AppleTV’s smash hit, PALM ROYALE, for her work in the unforgettable fourth episode, “Maxine Rolls the Dice”.
SYNOPSIS: PALM ROYALE is a true underdog story that follows the ambitious Maxine Simmons (Kristen Wiig) as she schemes to secure her seat at America’s most exclusive table: Palm Beach high society circa 1969. 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 belong.
Created by Abe Sylvia with episodes directed by Sylvia, Tate Taylor, Stephanie Liang, and Claire Scanlon, PALM ROYALE stars Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Julia Duffy, Leslie Bibb, Laura Dern, Mindy Cohn, and Carol Burnett, to name just a few of this star-studded cast.
Without make-up and hair where would a television or film production be? Probably looking very flat, listless, and lifeless. Thankfully, PALM ROYALE is anything but that thanks to the work of Emmy-nominated hairstylist and Department Head, KAREN BARTEK, and her team, along with the work of Emmy-nominated makeup artist and Department Head, Tricia Sawyer and her team, as well as the craftsmanship of fellow Emmy nominees Costume Designer Alix Friedberg, Production Designer Jon Carlos, and Set Decorator Ellen Reede (among many other nominations for PALM ROYALE).
1969 and the world of Palm Beach and West Palm Beach are very specific and defined in the zeitgeist of society, fashion, cultural trends, and even politics. One look at an image and you immediately know the time and place being referenced. And that’s what makes the work of KAREN BARTEK and her fellow Emmy nominees so award-worthy and dazzling as the attention to detail and minutiae is impeccable from every wig, flip, tress, curl, comb-out, astronaut helmet head, Afro, can of hair spray or tube of Brylcreem, and more.
Trying to select an episode to submit for Emmy consideration, for KAREN BARTEK it came down to Episode 104 “Maxine Rolls the Dice” with the spectacular Havana Nights ball and Episode 110 “Maxine Throws a Party” with the infamous season cliffhanging Beach Ball. A difficult choice, Karen ultimately submitted the former because “there’s more changes in episode 4 than in 10.” There’s more of an emotional rollercoaster given it’s the climactic tonal shift midpoint of the series; and where else can you create both a demure courtroom look and demeanor and Carmen Miranda-influenced headpieces with your styling in one episode.
Diving into the hairstyling process for PALM ROYALE, in our exclusive conversation Karen noted that “the whole vibe of it was great because each character kind of had their own look. Allison (Janney) and Laura (Dern) both had their own personal hairstylist” as did Kristen Wiig who Karen attended to, but in addition to these ladies and the other principal players, hair was an important element for the background players as well. According to Karen, everyone “really went to town” with the wigs and the various hairstyles with the starting influence being the photographs of Slim Aarons. But Karen’s influences went beyond that and with input from series creator, Abe Sylvia, also looked to women like Sharon Tate for some of Wiig’s looks while the character of Endora from “Bewitched” served as a muse for Allison Janney’s character Evelyn for not only hair, but Tricia Sawyer’s makeup design. With wigs playing a vital part in each look, while many of the women had a particular style that is maintained through the series, in order to give characters a little “oompf” or to change things up just a bit, a “little whimsy” was achieved with little hairpieces and hair accessories.
Preparation became a big part of PALM ROYALE given that there may be four and five hair changes per day per person, particularly with Kristen Wiig’s Maxine, making speed critical to the process. And this was never more necessary than with Karen’s Emmy submission, “Maxine Rolls the Dice” and the Havana Nights Ball. “I had a team of four people full-time, not including the personal stylists. And I had someone who organized the background and made sure they had all like hair pieces and accessories. We just made sure we always had enough people to do all these hairstyles. And we worked really closely with wardrobe and our costumes. They sent us pictures of the ideas for the background and for all the actors, so we would kind of think ahead of time about what we wanted to do.”
As with the other Emmy-nominated artisans of PALM ROYALE, a real highlight was working with Carol Burnett and for KAREN BARTEK that meant going “one-on-one” with the legend because “I had to do a thing called the bubble to measure her for a wig” and as a result got to hear Burnett’s stories from the glory days of Hollywood and her own show.
With all the talk of wigs in our conversation one might wonder how many wigs were needed for PALM ROYALE. “Kristen had five different ways [her hair was worn]. They were all kind of the same and just were ready to either go up or down. Dinah (Leslie Bibb) had just one with some extra hair pieces. Mary (Julia Duffy) had quite a few hair pieces. She didn’t really have a full wig. We tried to use some of her own hair because it was more comfortable for her… Laura Dern had one beautiful wig, because she was the hippie, that just always just looked beautiful and long…Our character at the dress shop wore a little toupee that was just slightly off, but he had a wig. So probably 20-25 wigs total for the principals” and then multiples were needed of those plus the background players. But it’s not just the women who had specific looks. So did the men. Ricky Martin and Josh Lucas, among other males, each had defining looks and influences.
Breaking down the work days and preparation, Karen elaborates on the process and the multitude of products in use, including lots and lots of hairspray and an age-old setting lotion that’s “been around forever. It’s a blue liquid and it literally will just hold the curls in and help us achieve what we were doing.” With only a month to six weeks of research and prep before shooting started, wigs were the first items to start being prepared as Karen accumulated photos and other materials to build specific looks in conjunction with makeup designer Tricia Sawyer. “Having wigs on different people with different hair colors that they’re not normally that color, makes makeup so important because you can do something just a little off and it makes the wig look like a wig.”
For KAREN BARTEK, working with this collaborative team was the most gratifying aspect of the entire experience. “It was fast and it was furious…but I’m just happy we got nominated and noticed.”
TAKE A LISTEN. . .
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 08/01/2024
PALM ROYALE is currently streaming on AppleTV!
