In the vibrant buddy comedy One of Them Days, the inseparable duo of Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) find themselves teetering on the edge of eviction after Alyssa’s boyfriend runs off with their rent money. Faced with the looming threat of losing their apartment, the dynamic friends embark on a whirlwind of escapades and antics, racing against the clock to come up with quick cash in less than a day. We chatted with Keke Palmer, delving deeper into the film.
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We don’t usually get to see female-led buddy comedies. Was that one of the big draws when the script came to you?
1,000% I was so excited to do something that allowed us to have adventure and fun and humor and through something that’s grounded, you know, real, situational things that are happening every day. You can’t pay your rent. You’re trying to figure it out, your credit is bad, all very everyday type of stuff, but to see these girls get through it with humour and then even a little bit of, you know, like edge to it, you know, some of the conversations and stuff I really love.
I knew that SZA hadn’t acted before this film, but watching her makes it hard to believe because she is so good. The chemistry between you two is brilliant. Did you have to work on that, or did it come naturally?
It was automatic. Before we did our main camera test, I remember she and I spending time together right before she performed for the Grammys. She was at rehearsal, and I was like, I’ll come wherever you are; we got our camera test tomorrow, let’s just spend a moment together. And she was totally down, even though she had so much going on. I remember us hanging out, just talking, and being like regular girls. You know what I mean? And I felt then, in that moment, that we can do this together, you know, we can do this movie, and we’re gonna have a good time doing it.
This film took a few years to make, and you are a producer on it. What does it mean to see it on the screen and be received so well by audiences?
It is amazing. I can’t tell you how awesome it is. You know, everything I’ve done, I’ve loved, but you never know, just because you love it, how the world will respond to it. But it’s also a big part of our industry that, you know, we do have to get good feedback. It informs the rest of our work and how much people put into it. So, the success of this means a lot artistically, creatively, but also professionally to see it be a success at this level. It encourages other people to be able to take chances on the same kinds of films, or just women in general.
There are a lot of funny scenes in this and some improv. How do you stay in character and not lose it when other people are being so funny?
I mean, it’s hard, you know, but what I think to myself is I don’t want this to be lost because I didn’t know how to keep it together. And so, I try my best to hold back because I want us to get the best moments on camera so that they don’t have to edit my laughs around, but it’s definitely difficult.
What about the physical comedy? Did you have fun doing all of that?
I did. I had a really good time. Physical comedy is something that I did a lot of it as a kid. Obviously, with multi-cam sitcoms, there’s always some element of physical comedy, but with this, there’s physical comedy, but it also still is grounded, so balancing that with the elements of satire was a lot of fun to play around with. I definitely love all styles of comedy, especially when I get to be silly.
What was it like working with the great Issa Rae?
It was amazing. It was awesome to see her as a producer, not only just like predevelopment, [but] getting the project to where it is and how she’s able to keep everybody together as a great sense of leadership and follow through, but then also, on set, seeing her still work that creative side of her brain. Telling us, you know, hey, this is a quick line rewrite that we did, try that, and get the level of engagement. I feel like I’ve always got the opportunity since very young, to work with people that not taught me by necessarily telling me things but taught me by watching them in action. And I feel like she was no different. I learned a lot just from seeing how she showed up.
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Interview by Cara O’Doherty