Keke Palmer on the responsibility of making history in Hollywood: “We forget how quickly Black people have succeeded past the point that they were meant to”

Was there ever a part you wanted badly but didn’t get?

I auditioned for [2005 comedy] Are We There Yet? and I remember being so sad I didn’t get it. But when I look back on it, I wasn’t ready. When I was, I got the opportunity to do the movie The Long Shots, [also] with Ice Cube. That’s why I always say everything is not always for you. Sometimes if you wait and keep trucking, growing, and doing your own thing, greater things will come.

You’ve gone on to play numerous – and incredibly diverse – roles since Akeelah, but that’s the one fans always seem to come back to. Are you ever frustrated with being remembered for that legacy role that was, by all accounts, wonderful but very much a “kid” part?

I honestly love Akeelah. I’m happy I had a role that’s that memorable. Some people are always going to say, “Oh, Keke Palmer, from Akeelah and the Bee!”…but I don’t have any bad feelings about it. If anything, I think that’s crazy that that character still has impacted so many people. It blows me away because some people don’t get that kind of role during the entirety of their careers…. And the reality is, everybody knows me for something different. Some people don’t even associate the girl from Akeelah with the girl on Instagram.

You’re now a part of the nostalgic animated series The Proud Family and the Toy Story franchise with Lightyear. Do you think people underestimate the power of animation?

Animation is one of the biggest disarmers of profound conversations. Not to say that it’s not the same with live action, but I think it’s harder to disarm people. And Disney Pixar is great at that. I can be just as intense as I am lighthearted. And I love being able to use lightheartedness and comedy and disarming elements of entertainment to talk about the things I really want to talk about.

You play Emerald in Jordan Peele’s anticipated film Nope. As a filmmaker, Peele is known for using horror to comment on culturally resonant themes that engage in some form of social critique. What’s one conversation starter you want the audience to take away from spectacles like Nope?

Human beings are intrigued by spectacles, even when they can be dangerous or even when they are emotionally in danger more so than physically. But spectacles are something that we’ve been dealing with all of humanity, whether we’re watching the gladiators, or we’re watching political scandals, or we’re on the latest gossip site, or we’re on the freeway rubbernecking because we saw a car accident happen back there.

We expose ourselves to so many spectacles online that it can sometimes alter the way we think about things positively or negatively…. And this movie does it in a unique way that’s fun, exciting, and within the horror genre. Although the audience is going to see the spectacle viewpoint. They’re also going to see the viewpoint of grief and siblingship, and they’re going to see the viewpoint of film and how the people behind the film should be more acknowledged. I’m excited to see everyone’s biggest takeaway because it represents how you see and view the world. It’s interesting that how we view art says more about us than it does the art itself, and I think that’s the coolest thing Jordan does.