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Keke Palmer opens up about 'really exploitative' child acting career

The NBC star is blowing up

Ahad Sanwari
Ahad Sanwari - New York
Senior WriterNew York
August 17, 2022
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Keke Palmer is making all kinds of waves at the moment, not only kicking off her reign as the host of NBC's revival of Password, but also starring in the film Nope.

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The actress opened up in a recent interview with The Guardian about her career beginnings and the difficulties it posed.

VIDEO: Keke Palmer hosts Password

She achieved her first major acting role at the age of 11 in 2004's Barbershop 2: Back in Business, and got her first bit of significant attention two years later in Akeelah and the Bee.

While talking about Nope, Keke mentioned the similarities she felt with her character, explaining: "I really related to it.

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"I think performing in general is exploitative. I think that being a child entertainer is really exploitative, because you don't even know your limits yourself. And a lot of what you later envision as a memory is actually trauma."

Since then, Keke has become one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, appearing in critically acclaimed movies like Hustlers and releasing her own music, too.

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Keke is making her TV return as the host of NBC's Password

The actress has been embarking on an impressive string of press circuits over the past few weeks for both Password and particularly Nope.

She spoke to Women's Health about the extensive work she's ready to put in, saying: "We're doing a lot of traveling for Nope. Korea, Germany, London, Paris, so many different places, which I'm excited about. 

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"But I also know it's going to be extremely physically taxing. I'm going to be expending so much energy, talking, laughing, and engaging. 

"And I don't do anything half-assed. So if I'm talking, I'm talking; if I'm laughing, I'm laughing; if I'm engaging, I'm engaging."

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The star is one of the leads in Jordan Peele's Nope

Referencing her early rise to stardom, she continued: "It became a habit to hustle hard, which is essentially how our country exists anyway, so I'm not original in that."

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