Palm Royale Star Leslie Bibb And The Year Of 'Yes!'

Photo Credit: Mark Squires

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER

PHOTOGRAPHY MARK SQUIRES

STYLING ERIN MCSHERRY

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Photo Credit: Mark SquiresTwenty-twenty-four is, without question, Leslie Bibb’s year. And it’s all because she started using one very small, but extremely powerful word. “This,” she declares, “is my year of yes.”

The star has been a Hollywood staple for nearly 20 years, with major cinematic moments in films like Iron Man and Iron Man 2, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, but now, things feel different. This feels like her moment. Scratch that — she knows it’s her moment. It was written in the stars, you see.

The 49-year-old beauty explains that, while having her birth chart read recently (a gift from a friend), her astrologer made one very impactful suggestion. “She said, ‘Right now, just say yes to everyone,’” Bibb (a Scorpio sun, Virgo rising, and Leo moon, for those with enquiring minds) recalls.

Which is how she wound up in Los Angeles for 120 hours, sandwiched in between 17-hour flights to and from Thailand, where she’s shooting the upcoming third season of HBO’s The White Lotus for the next four months. Bibb is here in the City of Angels to do one last Emmy push for Palm Royale, an Apple TV+ series that debuted in March about an ambitious young woman trying to break into Palm Beach’s high society during the “Powderkeg Era” of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Given that this particular series prompted her year of yes in the first place, the jet lag seems to be worth it.
“I forgot to eat last night because I went to bed at 5:30 a.m. and I’m absolutely reeling from exhaustion. But then, I just keep reminding myself just say yes, and all is OK. This doesn’t always happen; I can sleep when I’m dead,” she declares.
Bibb is riding a wave that doesn’t crest for many in Hollywood, a momentous peak of achievement that began when she accepted the role of Palm Beach socialite Dinah Donahue, that has carried on to Clint Eastwood’s upcoming thriller, Juror No. 2, and culminated with the whale of The White Lotus.

But first and foremost, Palm Royale. The ten-part period dramedy series, based on the 2018 novel Mr. and Mrs. American Pie by Juliet McDaniel, is a doozy. The series, set in 1969, revolves around Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons, played by Kristen Wiig, an Alabama-born model who strives to achieve supreme social status in the old money, snobbish high society playground of Palm Beach, Florida, by gaining access to the city’s most exclusive country club. Everything about the show is extra, starting with the cast. Bibb and Wiig share screen time with Carol Burnett, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Laura Dern, Josh Lucas, and Kaia Gerber, among others. The costumes, courtesy of Alix Friedberg, make a statement in every scene, be it with cigarette girls dressed as sailors, or waitresses in jellyfish outfits, with classic looks from the era showcased via vintage pieces from the likes of Pucci, Lilly Pulitzer, and Malcolm Starr. And then, there’s the outlandish moments, like when Janney’s Evelyn Rollins forms a deep connection with a whale, or Burnett’s delightfully campy attempts at 86’ing Maxine. The show is fun.

As such, while Bibb didn’t find any commonality with her character, she did have fun playing her — especially because she was able to work directly with Wiig, whom she’s become close (and who even phones in during our Zoom chat). “I don’t know if I see anything of myself in her. I mean, at all,” she admits. “I think you love stuff that’s totally the opposite of you. I tend to fall in love with people who are my opposite. The yin and yang of life is more interesting.”

Indeed, Dinah Donahue is no Leslie Bibb. Dinah Donahue is a woman who (spoiler alert) cheats on her husband with a tennis instructor, becomes pregnant, and intends to hide the father’s true identity. When her husband gets thrown in jail after engaging in a shady real estate deal, she doesn’t waste any time in moving on and attempting to marry an extremely old, extremely wealthy elderly man. Dinah is a hustler, but she is also a survivor, a flesh and bone version of Jessica Rabbit, smoldering, “I’m not bad, I was drawn that way.”

Of the character, Bibb says, “You can look at her and just think, ‘Oh, this is this rich woman who leads an affluent life. She’s all about money, she goes to country clubs. She doesn’t care about anything but herself and the clothes on her back.’ And yes, I think those things are true. But I also think Dinah is a woman who is scared and doesn’t have anything to fall back on. She hasn’t been to college, there’s no plan B. Your self-worth was how you married back then. There was something about her life’s trajectory that I found really sort of sad, but at the same time powerful, because she knew what the journey was. She was tenacious; she knew what she had to do to make her life the way she wanted it. She didn’t feel sorry for herself.”

In developing Dinah’s backstory, Bibb predominantly drew inspiration from one extremely unsettling interview with Valley of the Dolls star Barbara Parkins. “I was registering what was being said beneath the niceties. The interviewer was asking Barbara things like, ‘Do you still live at home with your parents?’ and Barb was like, ‘Um, no, I have my own house.’ She was a grown ass woman. But there was just something with the conversation being so nice on the surface but so loaded with judgments underneath that felt very Dinah; every interaction was controlled, like a chess game.”

She also turned to photographer Slim Aarons’ work, particularly “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places” — a façade of the rich and famous that spoke volumes — as well as 1950 Academy Award Best Picture winner All About Eve. “That film was all about the power struggle between women, this need to climb to the top at any cost. I was fascinated with people like Lee Radziwill and Jackie Kennedy, and the thought of what it must be like to be the sister of Jackie Kennedy. It felt very Maxine and Dinah. So that was the diving board I was jumping off of at the beginning.”

Photo Credit: Mark Squires

And although Dinah embodies all the not-so-savory sides of a quintessential Palm Beach socialite — she’s narcissistic, self-serving, materialistic, and more — Bibb also sees her positive sides. But she has to, even if only for self-preservation. “You have to fall in love with every character you play, even if it’s a terrible person — because a terrible person doesn’t think they’re terrible,” she notes. “If you go in judging a character, you’ll fail. I see all of the good about Dinah, even though people are saying, ‘She’s such a bitch.’ I’m like, yeah, but she’s a really good time. She’s tenacious. I feel like you could go out with Dinah, and you might rob a bank with her, but you’d never get caught. I find her incredibly charming. I love her. I also love that, as Dinah, I could do whatever I wanted to Kristen’s character, Maxine. We had so much fun, the two of us together, and I think that translates onscreen. You can tell we’re having a really good time.”

If she has her way (and Apple TV+ has theirs), a second season would be in this house of cards. As it is, Palm Royale ends on a cliffhanger — one that almost demands a sophomore season. Although she hasn’t formally been asked yet, Bibb is hopeful. “Yes, of course I think there’s going to be a second season! I can’t really officially say that, but I feel pretty confident about it. All signs seem to be pointing that way. Either way, I would be back for sure,” she declares.

As to what Dinah’s fate will be, she’s less clear. “Don’t even ask me that question!” Bibb says with a laugh. “I don’t even want to guess what goes on in the mind of [showrunner Abe Sylvia]. I mean, he had Allison Janney fall in love with a whale, and then somehow Maxine gets the whale off the beach by doing whale sounds. I do think that whatever happens, it’ll probably be very funny and wild with a Pedro Almodóvar vibe to it. There’s not a minimalist bit to Palm Royale; it’s all maximalist. Apple sort of gave us the go-ahead, like there’s no less is more, it’s more is more. It’s fun to play in the world to feel like you keep shooting above the rim.”

Since she’s referencing aspirations, I go one step further, and ask what an Emmy nomination would mean to her. And I do mean for her personally, a woman whose trajectory has been as rife with stops as it has with starts.

“Oh my god, I can’t even think of my name and that thing happening.” She pauses, and says, “Well, I mean, I can when I’m alone, quietly. It would be incredible, but I seriously can’t even imagine it. It’s like that Sally Field quote: ‘You like me, you really like me!’ Which sounds incredibly pathetic when I say it… and it also feels really vulnerable. I love being an actor, but it’s a really vulnerable thing to do. I know I’m not finding a cure for cancer, but I have a very fortunate life and I’ve worked really hard for it. It would be incredible to have people that you respect say, ‘That was really good. I see the hard work.’ I actually can’t imagine it.”

But then, she also couldn’t believe how good life could get, or that she’d be having her moment in the sun, so to speak (which I do mean figuratively given that, at the time of our interview and shoot, Los Angeles is quite literally frigid). “Getting to work on first, Palm Royale, and then The White Lotus, I can’t believe my life right now. I’m not a spring chicken. And as corny as that sounds, to feel like I’m getting to have this run around the bases, that I’m having this victory lap right now, is kind of unbelievable. I feel so lucky, and I don’t know why it’s so hard to sit back and just enjoy it, but truly, I don’t want this to end. I don’t want the other shoe to drop.”

It doesn’t need to, Ms. Bibb. Just remember that all you need to keep saying is yes.

Photo Credit: Mark Squires

Leslie Bibb is making big changes in her year of yes, and although it’s not the first, the latest is definitely the most visible: her hair. Bibb has had a true mane metamorphosis over the years, but she tends to stick to a tried-and-true shade of blonde, locks long. Lately, she’s been updating her ‘do to reflect the characters she plays. Dinah Donahue, for example, was a chestnut brunette with an adapted beehive, an elegant and understated hue for a trophy wife. Meanwhile, her super-secret White Lotus character is rocking a blunt blonde graduated bob.

“I didn’t have to get a haircut,” she admits when asked what prompted the new hairdo. “I just sort of decided this is what I wanted for the character.”

Which raises so many questions, but alas, Bibb isn’t allowed to answer any of them thanks to an airtight NDA. Indeed, even when she signed on, the role was shrouded in secrecy. She knew the series was filming in Thailand, and that she’d be shooting alongside Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Woody Harrelson, and Carrie Coon, and that’s about it. And although her initial “fever pitch of joy and ecstasy” immediately turned into, “Oh shit, now I’ve got to get to work,” needless to say, she’s more than excited for the

show to air in January — as will any fan of Mike White’s hit series.

Bibb had sent in an audition tape for the part while filming Juror No. 2 in Savannah, Georgia, with Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Messina, and J.K. Simmons. Messina filmed her while she read opposite his best friend and her longtime partner, Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell, who was in town visiting. She received the good word only a week later.

“I was by myself in bed in Savannah, shooting this Clint Eastwood movie. We had worked late, and I had turned off my phone because I needed to sleep. And then suddenly, I turned it on, and my phone was buzzing. Texts kept rolling in. I was like, what’s happening? My agents were slowly getting mad at me like, why aren’t you answering your phone? And then, all of a sudden, there was a voice memo saying, ‘You’ve got it.’ I pulled the sheets over my head and started screaming. I was like, ‘What is my life?’ I’m shooting a Clint Eastwood movie, and I just got The White Lotus.’ It’s seriously unreal.”

This was especially sweet relief in the wake of the actors’ strike. For many, the strike was a wake-up call, and Bibb is no different. The former model has felt the ebbs and flows of the industry since her first film role, in the 1997 comedy Private Parts opposite Howard Stern. Since then, there have been quieter pockets, balanced out by seemingly non-stop work, with a resume that includes projects like Lionsgate’s About My Father with Robert De Niro, the comedy series God’s Favorite Idiot opposite Melissa McCarthy, drama To the Bone with Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves, and superhero series Jupiter’s Legacy, all for Netflix, as well as No Good Deed opposite Taraji P. Henson and Idris Elba, among many others. The point here: the strike made her realize just how very much she loves her day job. These huge projects seemed to be a reward for riding out the strike.

Photo Credit: Mark Squires

“The weight of having our industry sort of halted made me realize how much I love what I do,” she admits. “I love pretending to be someone else, because Leslie Bibb is kind of boring.”

When I protest that this could not possibly be true, she assures me it is glaringly accurate.

“I’m very boring, trust me,” she insists, explaining, “I’m a little bit of a homebody. I present like I’m super outgoing, I come in hot, but underneath I think I’m very shy. If you were going to say, ‘Do you want to wear your cozy pajamas and be at home, make food, and watch a movie or go to the Grammys,’ I would be like, ‘We’re staying home.’ ‘It’s New Year’s Eve — where are you going to go?’ I’d say, ‘I’ll be making dinner at home.’ I mean, I love being with my close friends, in my house. There’s literally nothing exciting about me. I’m so boring.”

For the record, she immediately begins to discuss her adventures in Asia, a byproduct of filming The White Lotus in Thailand — proving how very non-boring she actually is. Bibb gushes over a quick jaunt to Cambodia and seeing the sun rise over Angkor Wat and expresses her desire to explore more of the country (which will be easy given that the series is shooting in Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok, among other places — at luxury resorts like the Four Seasons Koh Samui and Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas). She even describes travel as the greatest luxury in life, which does not fit my description of what a “boring homebody” would be. This, she acknowledges, is true.

“What I’m realizing is that travel is an important luxury, because it helps you to get outside of your comfort zone, see new things, and stay curious,” she admits. “Travel helps you to learn about places and people, and to have experiences that are so out of what your everyday life is. When I go somewhere, I don’t stay at the hotel — I want to go into the countryside, I want to see what the markets are like in those places, and eat street food.”

She’ll have another opportunity for adventure soon by heading to her dream destination — South Africa — where Rockwell, her partner of 17 years, is filming a movie. She’s trying to convince him to go on a safari with her. And if he can’t, maybe she’ll go alone. Because sometimes, doing the damn thing on your own is just as important, if not more so.

Photo Credit: Mark Squires

“I’m very happy being by myself,” she confesses. “I’m a little reclusive. I love my home, I love nesting. I love my dog. I love Sam Rockwell. And then, I also love being in my own home without Sam Rockwell. I’m sure he’s like, ‘I love Leslie, but I also like being alone.’ When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time by myself. And then you travel so much, you live out of hotels, and they’re great and they’re homey and amazing. I get to see so many fun things and have such a cool life. I mean, I was in Cambodia this time last week. I don’t know how I got this life; I just feel so lucky. But at the same time, I also would be very happy to, you know, be in my house making a really nice Bolognese.”

So on that note, to recap, “boring” is not a word I would use to describe Leslie Bibb. I would say she’s more like a rare flower, constantly unfolding, dainty and delicate in appearance, but tough underneath. Regardless of what happens in winter, come spring, she’ll bloom again, possibly swearing like a sailor at the growing pains. [She does, incidentally, swear like a sailor, dropping F-bombs like they’re going out of style. Her potty mouth, coupled with her natural elegance, makes her very interesting indeed.]

When she tells me she’s fulfilling two bucket list goals this year — first with Cambodia, then with her South African safari — I think her numbers might be off. She seems to be ticking boxes in more ways than one — it isn’t just travel that has made 2024 so special.

“It is my year,” she says. “The lady who loves being in her PJs is officially leaving the house — and I’m grateful for it, because staying outside of your comfort zone is an important thing to do. Curiosity is something that is so important — important as an actor, sure, and really important as a human being. It’s something that, as we get older, we lose a bit. All of a sudden, things just change. When you’re in your 20s, you’re made of Teflon; like, bullets bounce off you. You’re at the beginning. But that curiosity and that power of “yes” is really something to hold on to. When that astrologer said, “Just say yes,” I was like, oh yeah, that’s a great thing for life — just say yes. So, yes. This is kind of my year of yes. But it might be my decade of yes… and my life of yes.”

And to that, I can only say one thing: hell YES.