The Palm Royale team is celebrating a landmark achievement in television history, with their all-women stunt crew finally getting the industry recognition they deserve. Mallory Thompson's nomination for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Comedy Programming represents years of expertise and groundbreaking work that often goes unseen.
Industry insiders know stunt work — especially comedy stunt coordination — has been a boys' club for decades. The fact that Palm Royale trusted an all-women team for their most demanding physical sequence tells you everything about the talent gap between who's been given chances and who actually deserves them.
Variety reported on August 17, 2026 that Palm Royale received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Stunt Coordination (Mallory Thompson) and Outstanding Stunt Performance (Colby Lemmo and Sonja Wajih). The nominations were for Episode 6, "Maxine Finds Herself." This marked the first time an all-women stunt team earned these distinctions.
While Hollywood loves to pat itself on the back for progress, let's be real — this nomination is long overdue. Women have been killing it in stunt work for years; they just weren't being nominated. The catfight sequence that landed Palm Royale in Emmy contention proves what happens when you actually let talented women do their jobs.
Apple TV+'s Palm Royale has officially punched its way into Emmy history, and the people behind the most-talked-about physical sequence of the season are finally getting their flowers — though it's taken far too long. Mallory Thompson earned a nomination for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Comedy Programming, while Colby Lemmo and Sonja Wajih landed nominations for Outstanding Stunt Performance. All three were recognized for their work on Episode 6, "Maxine Finds Herself" — the installment that featured the show's jaw-dropping catfight sequence. But here's what makes this achievement historic: these nominations represent the first time an all-women stunt team has crossed this particular Emmy threshold. The Variety report detailing how Thompson's crew pulled off the elaborate physical comedy choreography reveals the meticulous planning required for sequences that look effortless on screen. Comedy stunts present unique challenges — every beat needs to land, every fall has to read clearly through the camera, and the timing has to be precise enough to sell gags without sacrificing safety. That's before you factor in the additional layer of coordinating with actors who may have zero stunt background. What's notable about this particular nomination category is how rarely it recognizes comedy programming at all. Stunt work in action-heavy dramas and thrillers tends to dominate the conversation, leaving comedy coordinators fighting for scraps of recognition despite arguably facing more complex choreography challenges. A poorly executed drama stunt might just look sloppy; a missed comedic beat can completely derail a scene's timing. Lemmo and Wajih's individual nominations for Outstanding Stunt Performance suggest they performed some of the sequence's most demanding physical work — the kind of falls, impacts, and choreographed violence that require split-second precision under conditions that would make most people wince. That two members of an all-women team landed these performance distinctions alongside their coordinator's recognition signals a rare alignment between technical excellence and industry acknowledgment. The broader implications extend beyond Palm Royale itself. Stunt work has historically operated as one of entertainment's more opaque boys' clubs, with women reporting significant barriers to entry and advancement despite demonstrable talent. These Emmy nominations don't erase decades of exclusion, but they do mark a visible milestone — proof that all-women teams can deliver at the highest levels when given the opportunity.
