Screenwriter, director, actor, singer, comedian, host, superstar—baby, this is Keke Palmer.
With Big Boss, out now, the legendary multihyphenate and Glamour cover star makes her directorial debut, spearheading a new, highly personal visual album. Palmer also wrote the script for the project, much of which was based on her experience growing up in show business, navigating her relationships with her family outside of a grueling professional schedule, and her turbulent time working with toxic music-label executives who tried to tell her what kind of artist she could be.
“I ended up writing the story that I didn’t even know I wanted to tell,” Palmer says, “which was my musical journey and all that I experienced and learned and felt, and how the different narratives that I had told myself stopped me from being able to live in this very expressive, creative flow.”
Palmer’s talent as a performer was apparent from an early age. She had showstopping solos in her local church choir at just five years old and was not yet a teenager when she made her film debut in 2004’s Barbershop 2: Back in Business. In 2006 she had her breakout acting role in Akeelah and the Bee, which won her best-actress prizes at the NAACP Image Awards and the Black Reel Awards. A year later she released her debut album, So Uncool, through Atlantic Records.
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After more than two decades in the spotlight, the 28-year-old is ready for the next chapter, which includes her most high-profile role yet: the lead in top-secret sci-fi horror movie Nope. Here, Palmer talks to Glamour about working with Jordan Peele, the joys of being a multihyphenate, and the challenges that come with stardom.
Her rise to movie and music stardom has been meteoric since. Among her most notable roles, to name just a few: the titular character in the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson: VP; the youngest talk show host in history with her BET series Just Keke; the first Black actor to play Cinderella on Broadway; and most recently, a leading role in Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed horror film Nope. She’s an Emmy winner and possesses multiple NAACP Awards, a BET Award, and a New York Film Critics’ Circle Award—and all of those accolades barely scratch the surface of her accomplishments.
Since So Uncool, the 29-year-old has put out several mixtapes and EPs, both independently and through labels including Island and Interscope. Now she’s back with her latest studio album, Big Boss, and its accompanying film, an ambitious, bold and beautiful blend of genre and visual styles that has already won the award for best music film at the Vienna Independent Film Festival.
