WATCH: Keke Palmer Talks ‘One of Them Days,’ SZA’s Acting Debut And Producing With Purpose

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The multi-talented star opens up about the film’s success and why celebrating female friendships matters.  Subscribe NOW to ESSENCE - http://ow.ly/QXFD50lRgPz  Director: Stephanie Duncan  Editor: Shelby Stewart Post Production: ESSENCE Studios | ESSENCE Social  ► ESSENCE: http://www.essence.com/  ► E360 [%20] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/e360-ap...   ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/essence    ► Twitter: https://x.com/essence   ► Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/essence/      ESSENCE YouTube Channels:  ESSENCE GU: https://www.youtube.com/@girlsunitedbyessence9585 Afropunk: https://www.youtube.com/@afropunk Beautycon: https://www.youtube.com/@BeautyConTV NaturallyCurly: https://www.youtube.com/@naturallycurly  ABOUT ESSENCE   The official YouTube Channel for ESSENCE. We love Black women deeply since 1970. Proud home of the #ESSIES #blackowned #WeLoveUs  Want to see the latest stories on ESSENCE.com ►►https://www.essence.com/bio/ Get the best of ESSENCE delivered right in your inbox ►► https://www.essence.com/newsletters/?...%/A0 Want to hear more from our editors? Subscribe to the magazine ►► https://subs.essence.com/pubs/EV/ESS/...

Transcript

00:00Sometimes when it comes to women like it's not like we're fighting to be like we can be as funny as the guys

00:04But it's just kind of like we have our own humor. We have our own jokes

00:07We have our own things that get us going and I think seeing that on screen is funny

00:15How do you feel about the massive success that the film has achieved thus far I am literally so

00:23Unbelievably, I mean the thing is I've been an industry for so long

00:27Just because I like a movie or I think it's good. It doesn't necessarily mean that the world responds to it

00:32I know I had a lot of fun filming it and when I saw the final work that you know

00:36Lawrence did put it together. I was definitely happy with it. It just feels good when

00:41When you get it, right, I guess and when you can bring people together, you know in a theater and in lab and enjoy

00:48So I'm speaking to the film night. It combines comedy and heart

00:52What drew you to the role of Drew and how did you connect with her as a character?

00:57I mean, I think exactly what you just say it had comedy, but it had heart like I don't believe in

01:02Just silliness randomly. I believe it in connection to situation story and things that are meaningful and immediately

01:09I knew the themes of gentrification the cycle of poverty

01:12Those are things that I mean I've experienced in my life, you know when I entered the entertainment business

01:17That was my parents jumping out of the cycle making a different choice trying to figure out how to just say hey

01:22Let's follow our dreams

01:23So I believe in putting that on film and showing that you can choose and try to figure out your own path

01:30So all of that to me was very personal

01:33And then obviously drew and Alyssa both those girls

01:36They're everyday women to me that I grew up with that

01:39I know that need to be seen on screen where they're they're making a way out of no way and they might fight but they don't

01:45Have each other's back, you know

01:47Now you able to work alongside SZA and her acting debut

01:51What was it like building that on stream the chemistry with her for whatever reason I think maybe she's just an extremely lovable person

01:58You know, we just kind of match like I've always been a fan of hers

02:03But then when we started working on this project doing chemistry reads with me, you know

02:07We started doing this is six five six years ago

02:10And so when we came together to finally start finding the girl and who the Alyssa to my drew was gonna be

02:17From the moment that she and I did the chemistry read we knew it was a match and the relationship kept building from there

02:24because when you're with somebody every day for

02:2716 hours 22 hours

02:29You want to get to know them because things are happening and life is happening and this person is right there

02:34And so I think that's just genuinely authentically how the friendship developed and we have similar dynamics to drew and Alyssa in terms

02:41You know, she not as crazy as Alyssa, you know, I'm not as anal as drew

02:46Hopefully not but we are in that vein for sure

02:50So kind of expounding on that a little bit. How do you think this film celebrates female friendships in a fresh and relatable way?

02:57Man, I think first of all where these characters are from giving nuance to that space

03:01I think so often like it makes fun of the satirical elements that people play sometimes on the black community

03:07Especially when there's poverty involved

03:09And it but it humanizes them at the same time where it's like this is just your everyday girl at the end of the day

03:15They want the same things trying to do the same things in the same struggles

03:19And then I think they're humor like it's again

03:23Sometimes when it comes to women like it's not like we're fighting to be like we can be as funny as the guys

03:27But it's just kind of like we have our own humor. We have our own jokes

03:30We have our own things that get us going and I think seeing that on screen is funny

03:34Like one of my most favorite parts is you know when drew sees?

03:38Alyssa's man's, you know, he takes his robe off and she gets to you know, see what's going on down there

03:43She's like

03:45Girl, what in the Medusa? I almost turned so like that's like I just think it's fun

03:50like just the things that girls do and

03:52Our conversation seeing it on screen like that whether it's crass or it's dramatic or we getting our ass to eat

04:00So you put on your executive producer hat for this film as well

04:05What was your vision for one of them days? And how did you contribute behind the scenes?

04:10How one of the main things when you're working when you're doing something like this with obviously the raid media

04:16You know, it started out very

04:18Grounded in the community and what our perspective is of our world

04:22But when you're working with Sony obviously

04:24There's a whole different group of people that have a different totally set of point of views that you do and as an executive producer

04:30I think it's you know, the biggest thing that you have to do is make sure that we meet in the middle

04:34They wanted big set pieces crazy moments

04:37You know all this stuff that movie people will want that also gets people excited into the theater their point of view

04:43It's valid and valuable, but for us, you know speaking from our point of view of our culture

04:49This isn't a it's comedy, but it's not a joke

04:52It's so being able to balance that and make sure that the heart doesn't leave

04:56I mean we went through so many different

04:58Rewrites of making sure that we could have that balance from in the beginning

05:01There's no set pieces to now the set pieces are taking over the character, too

05:05There's no differentiation between drew and Alyssa and wait a minute both characters need to make sure that they have a heart

05:11And you know, there's making sure that everything feels equal

05:15And blended in that way and then also staying with it

05:18It's very easy when you're working on a project to just drop out because there's so much that you have to go through in order

05:25To get it done. You know what I'm saying?

05:27Like it really really is. It's just kind of the nature of the business and everything that you know

05:31I mean, it's not specific to this

05:33So yeah

05:34I feel like all of those things for me was me putting on my producer hat because as an actor you just show up

05:41You don't have to really have too much commentary

05:43You can but you don't have to and if you are then yeah, you might be looking into being a producer

05:49Now this film also marks the directorial debut for Lawrence Lamont

05:53How was it like collaborating with him and what type of energy did he bring to the set Oh Lawrence so nice

05:59He's a very jovial guy and he has a very good temperament with all the things that were thrown at him

06:05It was really nice to see how he dealt with it

06:07And how he didn't let it stop him from being able to thrive creatively

06:11I think that's important thing for a director to have because we only had 22 days to shoot the movie

06:16This was scissors first movie

06:18So there's a lot that he had to also

06:19Explain to her along the way to just and not because she didn't get it

06:23But because she had not just ever done it before so if you've never done anything

06:26You don't know what blocking is

06:28You don't know what you know this angle and when they're gonna turn around and how we gotta wait

06:32And so I feel like the way that he handled that was really awesome to see and I think it's exactly what she needed

06:38and

06:38Yeah, I think yeah

06:39He just had a really good energy making sure that we could get this done on time and in style and after the post-production

06:45Stuff the music that he chose the edit when it first hat was first came when I first seen it the director's cut

06:53You know it was just to me

06:55Immediately like wow I love this movie

07:00So you actually spoke about a Sony's influence on the film a little bit earlier one of them days

07:05It comes out of Sony's a co-creator a lab for emerging storytellers

07:10What why do you think programs like this are vital for the industry?

07:13What do you think this film will have on that day industry? I?

07:17Mean, I think it's vital for the industry because they're just real stories

07:20You know what I'm saying like we can't have the same stories

07:23We have to have original IP and obviously because of so many things you know whether it be

07:28Covid or the economy and just just what's happening in the industry in general

07:33It's hard to get movies made and it's hard to get people to get out of their house and go into the theaters

07:38That's a difficulty

07:40And so a lot of times the only movies that they want to make our IP's that they know will work

07:44So that's why we get a lot of repeatables a lot of the same movies are the same type of movie

07:48So I think again the excessive one of them days excites me not just in a biased way because I'm in it

07:54But because we we you know in order to get new stories

07:57We got to show that new stories matter that don't mean you got to watch what you don't want to watch

08:01But with something good that you think is good is out there

08:03We do have to support it because that's how we get more and so for me to see the success of one of them days

08:08It excites me on all those accounts

08:11Because it's original and we need original stories. I think people want original stories

08:17Yeah

08:18Well, thank you so much for your time today Kiki. I really appreciate you continue success of the film as well as to you

08:24Thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you. Take care

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