Keke Palmer Is Blowing Up: 'Masters of Sex,' 'Just Keke,' & Now as Broadway's First Black CinderellaBy Maggie Furlong
August 4, 2014 11:37 AM
Keke Palmer is blowing up. If that name doesn't sound familiar, it will… very, very soon.
Currently starring on the second season of Showtime's Masters of Sex as Coral, the Masters's new nanny, Palmer also just finished a first test run of her very own talk show on BET, Just Keke, which is likely to get picked up for a full season in the coming weeks. But before she comes back to that, her latest job is taking her to New York City for a few months: Palmer was just announced as Broadway's newest Cinderella, the first black Cinderella ever to grace The Great White Way.
Yahoo TV spent an hour with the 20-year-old star, discussing everything from Twitter and emojis to racism and defining the word "ghetto"… with a few tangents in between. Palmer talks a million miles a minute, pinballing from wisdom-spouting buddha ("People always say that!") to admitting she's always looking for new experiences. Her energy and honesty is incredibly refreshing, if you can keep up.
In between dishing about all her latest projects, which also includes getting back into music soon, Palmer also revealed she's trying to eat for her blood type (B+, if you're wondering, which she says means she has to stay away from chicken, pork, grains, and avocado — and she's not happy about it); she's super into astrology, ("I am so into it. My birthday is August, late August, Virgo — yes girl — Life Path No. 11, Virgo sun, rising Cancer, and a Sagittarius moon. So into it — it's an issue," she says with a laugh); and then she dropped some emoji knowledge ("You know the one that's like this [puts her two hands together]? Everybody thinks it's prayer hands, but it's actually two people high-fiving.").
And after this week's Masters of Sex, which had her character Coral's hair as a hot topic, her last tangent doesn't seem as random. "My dream hair is dreads," Palmer said. "That is my dream hair. I love locks because they're just so freeing. Hopefully five or six years from now, my career will be solid enough for me to make that jump. The thing about locks is that there's still such a stereotype attached to them within the acting world. Hopefully I get to the point where I can stop those types of stereotypes. Braids are different. Moesha, I mean Brandy… Brandy broke them in. Braids can be seen on camera, but these days they really do like the 'regular' straight hair."
She's breaking down stereotypes beyond just hairstyles, transitioning from playing a glorified servant in the late 1950s setting of Masters of Sex to living out a fairytale dream as Cinderella. Keep reading to hear Palmer's thoughts on everything happening in her whirlwind career right now...
Cinderella on Broadway"I am through the roof about this, girl. I cannot believe it. It's crazy! It's crazy because I always thought at some point I'd be able to attempt Broadway, so when I got this opportunity and I ended up getting it… are you kidding? It's crazy. The thing about Broadway that excites me is performing every night and not knowing who's going to be out there. I don't know who I might see — I might see Denzel [Washington], I might see Oprah Winfrey, I might see Meryl Streep. That's the exciting thing about it. And I get to live out my dream every night, performing on stage, acting and singing, and it's so much energy pumping in the room and so much adrenaline.
"I'm the type of person that likes to push myself, but talk about discipline — I'm about to go there to start rehearsals, and this is going to be strict. I know they have vocal regimens to help your vocals stay right… I'm the type of person who likes having that kind of order. But I'm really just excited to be pushed to be at the top of my game."
But the news is momentous for another reason as well. "Yes, I'm the first black Cinderella. I will be the first black Cinderella to ever be on Broadway. It's so amazing. I don't think it's a fully black cast though — I know they're thinking about some other African American actors for the stepmother, so there'll be another black person in the cast, but no, it's not a Wiz-ification. This is the same one that Carly Rae Jepsen just did, same director, just new Cinderella and probably new stepmother."
Want to see her in action? "The first show is the second week in September… just thinking about it, it's just crazy. I go to New York to start rehearsals on Aug. 11. It's unbelievable to imagine that this is where it's come. I'm committed to that through January, then I'll pick back up with more Just Keke."
Masters of Sex"The show's writing is amazing. With this season, going into the racial issues back in the day, the writing is absolutely impeccable because it's a very honest side, to each side. To be a part of this… I was really excited. After the table reads, I'm like standing up, clapping — and they're all used to this amazing writing, but I'm like, 'You guys are unbelievable. This writing is ridiculous!' It's real. The person who wrote it wasn't African American, and I told her, 'I really appreciate the way you wrote this — it's so honest and you told the other side really well.'"
Keke Palmer as Coral and Caitlin Fitzgerald as Libby Masters in Masters of Sex (season 2, episode 4) - Photo: Michael …
As for Coral's relationship with her boss, Libby Masters (Caitlin FitzGerald), Palmer says the awkwardness feels spot-on. "When you think about that time, that's how it was — the idea that you can't connect with someone because they look different than you. Even today. It's not so much racial anymore — I mean, we still have racial stuff but with my generation and the generation under me, that's diminishing — but there's still the idea that 'We're different, so we can't agree and we can't coexist.' But that's what life is all about.
"Coral has a silent strength. She's the type of character that will teach Libby a lot, without saying too much. There's another aspect of Coral's life that's coming up… you get to see another chapter of Coral's life that introduces a whole different dynamic into Dr. Masters and Libby's relationship. When it all goes down, just know — I tried to prep you! [Laughs.] The show really did give me an opportunity to be a part of something really magical. This season is going into the racial issues of that time, the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, and I loved being a part of that, acting that on such an elegant show. And there's more, hopefully, to come from this storyline — not necessarily in this season, but in more seasons."
Coexisting on Social MediaWith over 1.5 million followers on Twitter and almost just as many on Instagram, Palmer's social media presence is as impressive as her résumé. But she's not just tweeting self-promotion — her followers are there because she actually engages with them, for better or worse.
"People will say things and I'll give my opinion, and it turns into, 'I'm getting into it.' But it's not even that I'm getting into it — it's that I'm speaking up about what I believe. I have a certain belief and a certain message, and if I can use what you said as an example to say that, then I will."
When it's pointed out that a lot of young actresses are told not to share their personal opinions for fear of making too many waves, Palmer got heated. "Women in general! Even if you take it outside of the entertainment industry, it's women in general. Anytime you have personal success, it's like, 'You don't need to explain yourself or say something,' It's not even explaining myself — if you're talking about things pertaining to me, why can't I have an opinion or join in the conversation? People are always saying, 'Oh, you're above this.' Or 'They're not worth your time.' But nothing is ever above a message. If you have a message to tell and to get across, use every situation you can to get that message across. I can teach you something, and you can teach me something, and we can learn how to take what we can use in our own lives, and what we can't we can just put it to the side. But if you don't allow yourself to understand, or to embrace that fear of the unknown and learning something new or something different, you're gonna be stunted — you're never gonna grow to a higher level."
Just KekeEven with actors who insist on managing their own social media accounts, unfiltered and unedited, there's still the line most agents and managers don't want you to cross: Being "yourself" in the spotlight. Which makes the idea of her doing a talk show seem like it was probably an unpopular one.
"Totally! That's exactly it. Nobody was into at all. Even my mom, who's always been my biggest supporter, she was not into it. But my whole thing was, my generation… we have a lot to say. But it all gets distorted and turned into something negative because we can only say it online. It gets twisted… We have a lot to say, we just don't have the platform to say it. This show is about that. I know I'm not the only person… people would meet with me and talk to me and say, 'Oh you're so wise.' There are a million Keke Palmers out there. A million — guy forms, girl forms, every form — but they're not being fed. I'm being fed because of my career and the opportunities I've been able to have and all the situations I've been able to be put in. But not everybody has that, so Just Keke is the platform where they can talk about things they're not able to talk about anywhere else, and can hear the stuff that they've been dying to hear about.
"It's something that I wanted to see myself. I wanted to see something I could relate to, to talk about the issues, talk about dating, sex, drugs, clubbing, first year of college, first year of high school. People don't give our generation enough credit — they don't even think we can have real emotions. People still think young people can't fall in love. It's crazy. Meanwhile, people are falling deep in love and defining it for themselves. It's a crucial time in our lives.
"I've always been a talker and I've always been a seeker of the truth. I've always been interested in the idea of having inner peace and in spreading love — I've always been a lover. So it became about giving people the opportunity to experience what I've experienced, giving people the opportunity to help me understand what they've experienced, and giving us all the opportunity to understand one another and find a way to have a sense of community and love, to create togetherness and build strength in a community."
Fine With Being "Ghetto"Asked if she had a favorite episode in her initial run of Just Keke, Palmer was quick to name one: "Probably the episode where I talked about people calling me ghetto. The reason why is because I always feel like there's a positive thing in everything. You can find what you want it to be. When people call me ghetto — 'Oh I've seen the show and you're so ghetto' — that's not degrading to me. When I see ghetto, I say you grew up in a poor neighborhood. That's all that means. The ghetto doesn't have a specific look, a specific color, a specific age. Ghetto is just a poor neighborhood, and the culture comes out of that, like anything.
"If you're rich, you've got the things that you do — you guys all get together and go to the Hamptons. In the hood, you guys all get together and have a picnic or a barbecue. In the ghetto culture, we talk loud, we have an opinion, we have sass, we express ourselves — those are all positive things. When you call me ghetto, I'm looking at the positive side of it. That's fine if that's what you want to call me, but at the end of the day, I define what it is. You define the words, the words don't define you. You know who you are — you don't have to let the things other people say make you feel a certain way about yourself. If you know who you are and embrace who you are, there's nothing people can do to make you feel bad about it."
Wise Beyond Her Years"People had ideas about who I should be and how I should be," Palmer said of her early career, "and I became a people pleaser. That's when everything changed, the way I looked at things changed — I realized that life is about your journey, you as an individual. We can make it about other people and other relationships that can help us and guide us and teach us about ourselves, but at the end of the day, life is about you being happy and doing what makes you happy. So many people let other things define what life should be for them, what happiness should be for them, or what success should be for them. You're not successful only if you have a certain amount of money in your bank account. Success is living your path. Living your life and living your life's purpose — that's what a successful life is."
Biggest Career Influences"Queen Latifah is the best and she's been a huge supporter of my career. She's always been the type of person who's appreciated my work ethic, and that's only made me want to work that much harder to make people like her proud." Palmer played Latifah's niece in Barbershop 2: Back in Business, which was her first credited role in 2004. Latifah has since played her mother twice, in Joyful Noise and Ice Age: Continental Drift, both in 2012. Palmer also gave a shout-out to actor Courtney B. Vance, just days before he appeared in the twist ending on Masters of Sex this week.
What's Next?"Music. There's a lot of stuff I can't talk about just yet, but music is definitely something that's re-emerging for me. It's always so back-and-forth — the music industry is so different. I think a lot of people have been able to see who I really am from Just Keke, which is really a cool thing. I love it when people get to know the real me because I'm not my characters. Maybe the closest character to me would be True Jackson, VP, just because she was a little silly and goofy… but for me, in my music, I finally have the opportunity, as an adult, to really put out the type of stuff I want to put out and talk about and have people get a chance to listen."
Her TV ObsessionIs there any other TV show she'd love to guest star on? "Power [on Starz]. I think that show is so intense and cool… it's just so crazy. And they go there with the sex scenes. They go there, girl! I am so into Power — it kind of gives you that Sopranos vibe, this underground thing going on. I've been watching with my friends and I love it."