Keke Palmer

FROM ACTING TO SINGING TO REALITY TV, KEKE PALMER DOES IT ALL. "I just always was attracted to people that did multiple things," Palmer tells Newsweek, saying artists like Jamie Foxx and Queen Latifah were early inspirations. Now she's out with the hotly anticipated Jordan Peele film Nope (July 22). "When people think about Get Out or Jordan's work, they can sometimes zero in on, 'Oh, this is a think piece on Blackness." She says there's always an element of that, but "They're not always on Blackness," and Nope is a perfect example of that. It's part horror, part sci-fi, part thriller and part comedy. "His choice to put Black people in the lead is just based off his perspetive of who he sees in his story." Since starting out as a child actor, Palmer says the quality of work she's receiving has only gotten better. "To have evolved to the place where the variety of who I get to work with is this level, I think it's only going to bring the best out of me." Case in point, starring alongside Daniel Kaluuya in a Jordan Peele film. "There's only one Jordan Peele."

- H. Alan Scott

The trailer was jaw-dropping. Did you have that reaction to the script?

I did. I was thinking, this is a lot to take in, in a good way.

What was it like working with Jordan Peele and Daniel Kaluuya?