Lauren Keyana Palmer was born in Harvey, Illinois to Sharon and Larry Palmer, both former actors. Well, you know, Keke Palmer showed promise as a five-year-old when she belted out “Jesus Loves Me” in her church choir. A year later, the singer/actress had a solo in her kindergarten play. And as they say, the rest is history. Everybody knew the girl was talented.
I actually did her first interview when she came to Hollywood many, many years ago. Well, honey, that cute little girl has turned into a megawatt star with perhaps her biggest screen role to date in the movie Nope.
Here’s Keke in her own words talking about the sci-fi thriller:
“I play Emerald Haywood, who is a rambunctious, you know, a little bit attention driven, performative personality, who’s looking for her big moment. You know, she’s kind of, you know, experienced being in the shadows of her family. You know, growing up mainly with her dad and her brother. And so she’s always kind of waiting on being able to have her opportunity to shine. And that’s where a lot of her drive comes from. OJ is her older brother, who is very much a worksmen. You know what I mean? He’s very focused. He’s been working on this Haywood Hollywood ranch doing this business with their family, continuing on the legacy of being animal wranglers. And so his attention is far different. He’s kind of wanting to be in the shadows. You know, he feels very much defined, you know, and empowered by his job to do, to be a horse trainer. And, you know, we meet them at the point where they are reconnecting again, you know, at the loss of their father.”
Keke Palmer’s next job? Mark Zuckerberg just hired her to host “Are We There Yet?” — a video series that explains the metaverse. The first episode of the series dropped today. “Are We There Yet?” is a road trip where Palmer chats with creators, educators, and experts to find out where the metaverse stands now.
Click play to hear the Hollywood Live report from Tanya Hart:
