[This story contains mild spoilers from episode nine of .]
Tate Taylor could be the male version of Maxine Delacorte-Simmons.
The executive producer and director behind the Kristen Wiig-starring comedy had his own experience trying to get into an exclusive Palm Beach club during pre-production on the Apple TV+ series. And just as the Tennessee debutante found out in the season premiere, Florida’s rich socialites don’t take too kindly to trespassers.
“I walked in the side door like Maxine, got a great view of the club, was seen by security, and kicked out. So I left Palm Beach feeling like a loser and a piece of trash,” Taylor said. Recall the discussion below. “I said, ‘Well, this is a very real place.’
The character of the Palm Beach community is why it had to be filmed in Los Angeles, where a combination of set locations and sound stages were used to create the world in which Norma Delacorte (Carol Burnett) rules. A part of Dinah (Leslie Bigg), Evelyn (Allison Janney) and Rita (Claudia Ferry) is obsessed with survival. And Maxine is eager to join. It’s that dynamic that led Taylor to immediately sign up for the project when Laura Dern and Jaime Lemmons approached her because their production company, Jay Walker Pictures, was developing the series.
“I love working with the same people, and I love working with actresses,” says Taylor, who stars with Dern and Janney in the 2021 dark comedy. “I think female characters are infinitely more interesting than male characters simply because the world is inhabited by women and has obstacles.”
Below, Taylor and executive producer John Norris talk about the behind-the-scenes hurdles of bringing Life to Life and why Next Week’s Finale was one of the toughest episodes of his career.
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The exhibitor was Abe Sylvia. Inspired by Slim Erwin When he was writing the script for the show. What were your goals in terms of the look and feel of the series?
Tate Taylor It’s just that. When you’re given a canvas like Palm Beach, Florida, and you look at these pictures, there aren’t a lot of stops you want to put in along the way. Working with Jon Carlos and Alex Friedberg was an embarrassment of riches. Whenever he came to me or Abe with an idea, we just kept saying, “Yes!” They will ask, “Is it too much?” “No, it’s not too much. We can do it.” And then we would get a historical picture and it wasn’t very much. In the pilot, we have this woman in white getting out of the car who gets up to go to the Palm Royal – it was a repurposed dress from the picture. Alex couldn’t find the dress in any vintage documents, so she made it up. So, Abe was right. This was Slim Aaron’s world.
The series has a bit of a dramatic soap opera feel to it. But then there’s also the mystery element and the fast-paced action. What was the approach in terms of pacing and style?
Taylor Well, going back to Slim, it was very important that a lot of wide angles were used. I was like, “Guys, we’re not shooting this like a television show. This is the Technicolor dreamscape of movies that we all grew up watching. When you have a lot of action and comedy and these There’s a lot going on with the sets and the costumes, so I wanted to create a big canvas where you can see them all come together naturally to create the world. The shooting style is very beautiful.
Ever thought of shooting in Palm Beach?
Taylor Absolutely. I said, “We have to shoot in Palm Beach, or at least some of it in Palm Beach.” So early in pre-production, Jon Carlos and I went to Palm Beach to take a look at it, since neither of us had ever been. We were walking on the sidewalks and sure enough, this wealth was passing by in every direction, and I felt like trash. I could only feel how I didn’t fit in. And there’s a club in Palm Beach called the Everglades Club, which is an exclusive club that’s impossible to get into, just like the Palm Royal. And I said, “Jon, we have to look inside this club.” And he goes, “We can’t.” So, I entered. I entered the side door like Maxine, got a great glimpse of the club, was seen by security, and kicked out. So, I left Palm Beach feeling like a loser and trash. I said, “Well, it’s a very real place.” I felt most comfortable in West Palm Beach where Maxine was. He was my jam. But as a director and a storyteller and a former actor, it was very important for me to feel that.
John Norris He called me that night and told me that story and I thought, “Oh of course you did. Of course you got kicked out of the club.”
Taylor My production designer was Chicken. He won’t do that.
The music is also such a big part of the overall feel of the series. How did you decide on the direction?
Taylor It was difficult. The show had to show us what it was going to be. Many times, you get some opportunities on needle drops and they are always quite expensive. Once we started threading our needle to make the feel of the show with the songs that we know, we started from there saying, “If we could have a song in the world right now, That will be it.” And then from there, it would be a cue to hit the vibe because the show has such a rhythm.
Norris When Abe first started putting the writers’ room together, we—Kristen [Wiig]Tate, Laura [Dern] And me — everyone had a shareable playlist to which we’d add our crazy songs, from bossa nova to Taiwanese remakes of popular ’50s American classics. And then Laura introduced us to her friend George Drakoulias, who’s the music supervisor, and they’re playlists on the go. It got very interesting from there. I still listen to this playlist today, because it’s so great. The playlist is very self-referential like the show. It adds a lot of color.
Taylor It’s only happened to me in one other movie, which was Thi, where it’s really a group of people coming together. Everyone has a place at the table, everyone is good at what they do, and everyone was left alone to do what they do best and just trust. Even the playlist, everyone made it together. It was just extraordinary.
Norris Credit to Apple TV+ for allowing us to play on such a large canvas.
Whale is the unexpected star of the eighth episode. How did you wrap your head around executing those scenes?
Taylor Well, luckily, I’m not Juan Carlos. The whale scene is important because, as brave as the show is, it’s moments like this where Allison Janney really gets real and you see a different side of Evelyn. It just goes to show you that, no matter how rich you are or how good you think people have it, everyone is still longing, or they think they have it now. Nothing is right either and it breaks down all socio-economic barriers. Money can definitely feel good and make things easier. But scenes like this with Whale … these private moments with these actors are scattered throughout the show like this. And Alison was like, “I’m working with a whale that’s not there?” All he had was this eyeball and some blue screen, but afterwards he said, “It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
Beachball has been building throughout the season. What did it take to finish the season finale?
Taylor The beach ball is the hardest thing I’ve ever shot in my career. I’ve done James Brown concerts. But that was because there was a lot going on and a lot to cover, and the majority of it happened in a tent. I was fully aware that I had to keep it interesting where the angles and spots in the tent felt like a completely different place. I teamed up with Jon Carlos and we did a lot of really storyboarding, which I don’t normally do. But in this case, I had to visually realize, “Okay, we’re going to look at this angle of the tent, then we’re going to go here.” And that’s why I came up with the idea of removing the sides of a couple of rooms so that the sea would come back there. And then also the use of shadows, a lot of scenes that were behind the scenes, all those decisions were made to be visually interesting. We shot in Esther Williams’ water tank. It was crazy.
Norris And all this against the backdrop of shooting on these magnificent and historic Paramount stages. Ghosts, you feel them there. You really feel the history. The scope of the show, how big it was and how colorful it was… these productions, we would bring in friends and agents and people who have been in the business for a really long time and they would just get upset saying, “I haven’t seen 50 years of production like this is huge and really fun.
The season finale leaves the audience with a ton of cliffhangers. Are your wheels turning already as to what the second season might look like?
Taylor He started turning on the first episode.
Norris As Carol Burnett said, “Yes.”
Taylor Poor Abe in the writer’s room. We just can’t help ourselves from coming up with ridiculous ideas. And, what’s great about how the season has been left is that there are a lot of questions to be answered. There are still questions to be answered from the first, second, third, fourth episode — like Maxine’s life in Chattanooga. There’s so much more to discover that I think Apple TV+ owes the world to spread that joy. just say it.
Pam Royal
Credit : www.hollywoodreporter.com
