Keke Palmer on ‘One of Them Days’ & How Being a Mom Changed Her Career Approach

January is notoriously not a great time for movie releases, but not every movie is a female buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA. Since releasing in theaters on Jan. 17, “One of Them Days” has been a hit both critically and at the box office. Palmer, who both stars in the film and is an executive producer, reasons that people are in the mood to laugh.

“I know for me as an artist, I want to make stuff that makes me laugh and hopefully makes other people laugh because I feel like we already know we’re in hell. I feel like life is already difficult enough, and obviously life is always difficult no matter what’s happening, but I think right now especially, that’s kind of the common thing you hear, and it obviously informs your art,” Palmer says. “For me, not even just this year, but the last 10 years or so, leaning into my comedy is really an evolution of my response to life and what’s happening around me. I want to lean into satire in all the ways that I used to love growing up, that have a poignance to it but also have this casualty that’s kind of like, ‘Hey, I’m rolling with the punches’ type of vibe.”

Palmer, 31, has been acting since she was a child, but in recent years has stepped into a whole new chapter of her life. In November, she released her second book “Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative,” and says that ever since welcoming her son in 2023, her career choices have been motivated by him.

“What’s going to give me consistency, make me comfortable, also inspired, and make it easy for him. I think my inspiration a lot of times does come from him and his comfortability or just knowing that he’s OK. So he’s a big part of what drives that,” she says. “And then it’s things that are going to stretch me and challenge me, as always. That’s pretty cliche, but I’ve been doing it for so many years and I did a lot of drama growing up, did some comedy as a teenager with ‘True Jackson, VP,’ but that is children’s comedy. Growing out of that era, I started to really find myself in comedy and what my comedic voice was. And I feel like I’m still in the beginning of all that.”

“One of Them Days” follows Dreux, played by Palmer, and Alyssa, played by SZA in her feature film debut, as they try to prevent being evicted after discovering Alyssa’s boyfriend took their rent money. Issa Rae, who is a producer on the film, originally pitched it to Palmer pre-pandemic to both star in and produce. 

“I’ve always wanted to do something like that. It’s my personality. I really love playing with masculine and feminine. The reason why I say masculine and feminine is because a lot of times being funny ends up being something that is based on gender, even though it’s really not. But I’ve always been crass and I have fun,” Palmer says. “I always wanted an opportunity to do a buddy comedy because that’s just my vibe and I like buddy comedies. But these kind [of movies] don’t come around often.”

Palmer saw parts of herself in her character Dreux, and also in Dreux’s friendship with Alyssa.

“I care about making it and making it in terms of the system. It is this overwhelming system that we have that we’re all trying to figure out how to just live. Dreux takes responsibility for that and for her ability to have the kind of life she wants,” Palmer says. “And her friendship with Alyssa…even the argument that they get in, they really kind of showcase the importance of friendship as it pertains to personal growth. Sometimes the really good friends, they’re the ones who are going to get you there and it’s going to help you realize yourself. And so I relate to all of that — my friendships being kind of the most human aspect to me outside of my extreme focus and type A personality.”

As she looks ahead, Palmer is eager to continue producing films that mean something to her.

“It is an evolution of my joy and love for the entertainment industry,” she says of producing. “Now it doesn’t mean you can’t be a mom and also a talent, but as your desires grow in life, you need different places in different ways. I think producing allows me to still stay in it, but also be an observer a little bit more. Being able to create something that doesn’t stand solely on my shoulders, but [where I] can support other people’s dreams and other people’s desires.”

Palmer would love to keep doing comedy, and is especially interested in doing an action comedy. 

“I want my son to see me as strong,” she says. “It excites me to be able to just lean more into the action type of thing, but then adding comedy to it. I grew up loving Will Smith, so seeing his transition to also being these characters that have all these nuanced stories, but bringing the levity and then the cool fun action to it — I think it would be just so fun to do.”