Hollywood Highs, Family First with Tyler Lepley and Serayah

Tyler Lepley & Serayah are in the studio and the vibes are immaculate! They’re juggling newborns, wedding plans, and their Netflix romance Ruth & Boaz, a modern R&B spin on a biblical love story. Keke and Serayah dive into postpartum life, while Tyler opens up about therapy, co-parenting, and growing up as the only Black person in his family and school. From Empire to The Haves and the Have Nots, they share Hollywood highs, family growth, the search for authentic love, and lessons shaping their journeys on and off screen. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:05Keke Palmer?

  This episode is presented in partnership with Airbnb, where the best end of summer memories are made with your closest friends. Now, let's get on with the show.

• 0:44Keke Palmer?

  Oh my gosh, first of all, I'm so glad that you guys are on the show. Tyler, this is my first time, I feel like, I've seen you around, but this is my first time actually getting to sit down and talk with you. Serayah, we done had drinks, caviar, late nights. You're my girl, so I'm happy that you're on the show and we get to get into what you guys are doing. I'm so excited for this movie. I mean, first, we have to do the pre-show pull-up. I do this with all my guests, just to get into y'all's vibe and see what you guys are feeling today. So I'm gonna start with you, Serayah.

• 1:11Speaker 01

  Uh-oh.

• 1:12Keke Palmer?

  Today, I'm giving "Mother at Work" with the side of "Boss Babe", every day, all day. I mean, it's so crazy that you're a mom, boo.

• 1:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, it is crazy.

• 1:21Keke Palmer?

  And I know you said the baby travel with you.

• 1:23Speaker 01

  He's here.

• 1:24Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 1:24Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:25Keke Palmer?

  How's he been acting? Is this his first time flying?

• 1:27Speaker 01

  It's like his second time. Was totally in a whole uproar before I left, so I'm still feeling like the tension.

• 1:35Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 1:35Speaker 01

  I'm like, no. I wanna fix it and everything, and yeah.

• 1:39Keke Palmer?

  And I know it never goes away.

• 1:39Speaker 01

  He's with Gigi, so he's good.

• 1:40Keke Palmer?

  Okay, he's with Gigi, hey, Gigi. Okay, so, "Mother at Work", "Boss Babe", 100%. Today's mood in one word, I can attest to this, you are 100% serving.

• 1:50Speaker 01

  Here he is.

• 1:50Keke Palmer?

  You always serve, though. Do you, I remember we were just at my album listening party, and I'm like, the bangles, the dress.

• 1:58Speaker 01

  Oh, thank you.

• 1:58Keke Palmer?

  Even after being a mom, like, was it a lot coming into your mind whenever you get dressed now? Or is it the same feeling that you've always had with fashion?

• 2:05Speaker 01

  I feel like it's definitely changed. I mean, my body's different, things feel different, have to lift things and, you know, squeeze into things. Listen.

• 2:15Keke Palmer?

  My baby done sucked it all out. I'm like, damn, who is she? Who am I?

• 2:19Speaker 01

  What am I? What's happening? Don't fit nothing. But it's cool because I feel like there's a new space that I'm, wanna go with fashion anyway, so.

• 2:26Keke Palmer?

  Yes, yes.

• 2:27Speaker 01

  I'm just, I'm finding it.

• 2:28Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, I think that is the cool thing. Well, after my son was born, my body definitely did change. And it changed in a way. It changed in a way that allowed me to show a little bit more curves, you know, cause it gives us a little bit more weight, you know what I'm saying? I never really had a lot of bamboo bop. But after the baby, I did, so it definitely allowed me.

• 2:43Speaker 01

  Same, same.

• 2:44Keke Palmer?

  So it allows us to explore fashion in a different way. So, I'm living for it, you're serving. So you was listening to my girl SZA on the way here?

• 2:52Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 2:52Keke Palmer?

  Is it the new project or you going old school SZA?

• 2:55Speaker 01

  Girl, actually, it was the heat. They were playing SZA.

• 2:58Keke Palmer?

  Ooh, okay, come on, the heat. We like the heat.

• 3:00Speaker 01

  I would love the heat.

• 3:01Keke Palmer?

  I love SZA, that's my girl. Okay, last screenshot on your phone, no deleting, show me. Show it, you have it?

• 3:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, girl, it's literally my flight back home tomorrow.

• 3:12Keke Palmer?

  Literally, I love. Two days from now, three days from now?

• 3:16Speaker 01

  Tomorrow.

• 3:17Keke Palmer?

  Damn, this is a good trip.

• 3:18Speaker 01

  Supposed to be, you know, two days, but tomorrow, look.

• 3:21Keke Palmer?

  Period.

• 3:22Speaker 02

  I got you in and out, huh?

• 3:23Keke Palmer?

  She said, what she said at the top, mother at work, boss babe. Boss babe screenshot, okay. What's your zodiac sign and do you know your big three? Of course, you know your big three, you're Gemini, Aries, and Libra. Now, wait a minute, which part is the, I know your sun sign is Gemini, but what's the Libra to Aries?

• 3:40Speaker 01

  Okay, the Aries is the moon.

• 3:42Keke Palmer?

  Oh, that's the moon.

• 3:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, the Libra is the rising.

• 3:44Keke Palmer?

  Ooh, do you feel, which one do you feel most connected to?

• 3:47Speaker 01

  Oof, I mean, honestly, all of them. I cannot lie, like, I get a little bit of fire sometimes, and then sometimes I'm very much my Libra girly. Like, I'm indecisive.

• 3:59Keke Palmer?

  And you're so Libra with the, I mean, Libras are known for their aesthetics. You always showing up looking bomb, I feel like that's very Libra. I do feel the Aries, cause you have that fire, I feel that fire, but then that Gemini is like, I'm here, I'm there, I'm nowhere, y'all gotta catch me. That's very you.

• 4:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm, I'm very much not really here, no.

• 4:17Keke Palmer?

  Yes, I'm not really here. Okay, what's your love language? Cute, oh, quality time?

• 4:24Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 4:24Keke Palmer?

  And gifts?

• 4:25Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 4:26Keke Palmer?

  Yes, gifts!

• 4:27Speaker 01

  Yes. I used to be very humble about that and it was like, towards the end of my list. That has changed over time.

• 4:33Keke Palmer?

  Girl, I live for that. So how do we get the guys to give us the gifts? Because the girls are like, "Yeah, how?"

• 4:38Speaker 01

  How?

• 4:39Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, do you just be like, "I want a gift." Or is it just like, "I love," or do you tell them like, "I love gifts."

• 4:45Speaker 01

  I think it's very much like, "Oh, I really like this." Like, just letting him know what you like and what you're into. And hopefully he gets, you know, he picks it up. Because I think that that's another testament to who you're with. Like, you gotta pick up.

• 4:57Keke Palmer?

  Send an Amazon cart.

• 4:59Speaker 01

  Pick up the pieces.

• 5:00Keke Palmer?

  I like all of these things. Okay, and what's the most unexpected thing on your talent rider? Girl, my rider needs an update.

• 5:07Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 5:08Keke Palmer?

  That's true, because they keep giving me Flamin' Hot Cheetos in mine. They're riders from when I was 13. I like Flamin' Hot Cheetos, but like, I do need to update mine. Because every time Cheetos have been in [BLEEP]. Like, every time. It's crazy. Okay, and I got your autograph, period. Love this. Now we're moving on to you, Tyler. Okay, today I'm getting "clean," with two exclamation points.

• 5:28Speaker 02

  Yep, clean, clean.

• 5:29Keke Palmer?

  I love that.

• 5:30Speaker 02

  I cut my own hair, you know what I'm saying?

• 5:31Keke Palmer?

  Wait a minute.

• 5:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's, that's the tea.

• 5:33Keke Palmer?

  You cut your own hair?

• 5:33Speaker 02

  Cut my own hair, yeah, for sure.

• 5:34Keke Palmer?

  How you learn how to do that?

• 5:36Speaker 02

  Uh, you know what? I had messed it up a bunch of times when I first started. Probably like, I mean, I started out of necessity.

• 5:41Keke Palmer?

  Sure.

• 5:41Speaker 02

  So I was, um, I was raised outside of Philly. So trying to find a barber to cut my hair was like...

• 5:46Keke Palmer?

  Oh my God, I was telling him, guys, this, this right here, this whole beard goes heat situation, that gets Philly down. I feel like you've gotta be from Philly to have that.

• 5:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, typically, yeah, that, that look is like the, uh, the, the, the big beard and like the bald head. But, so I started because everybody was always butchering my hair. And then, for the first few years, I was butchering my own. But then I started to get the swing of it. Um, and you know, 20 years later, I'm clean.

• 6:07Keke Palmer?

  There's nothing better than being able to do your own hair, though.

• 6:09Speaker 02

  It's nice, isn't it?

• 6:10Keke Palmer?

  It's like you're never gonna catch me slipping. Now, you're getting clean with the side up. Ain't afraid to get a little dirty to keep it that way.

• 6:18Speaker 02

  Oh, you know what? I honestly thought we was gonna be discussing these together like now. Like outside of the camera.

• 6:24Keke Palmer?

  Oh, like before the show?

• 6:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, I thought it was an icebreaker. We were just gonna talk. (bleep) come up in here.

• 6:28Keke Palmer?

  Howling. Now, what kind of dirty are we talking?

• 6:30Speaker 02

  No.

• 6:31Keke Palmer?

  Ladies wanna know.

• 6:33Speaker 02

  I just, I just, um, well, you know, a good, a good way to describe it is I got sleeves on right now, but I have a tattoo underneath my, uh, underneath my arm. And it is Archangel Michael. And he's one of the leaders of God's army. And, uh, he just, he would go to war. He's, um, matter of fact, can I show y'all?

• 6:51Keke Palmer?

  You're going to the jacket. I'm going to show those guns. It's fine.

• 6:54Speaker 02

  But he, he, uh, he killing a serpent, but he, um, you know, he, he will get his hands dirty to fight for the right things.

• 6:59Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 7:00Speaker 02

  You know, so I feel like, uh, you know, I'm very, um, I don't know, how would you say?

• 7:04Keke Palmer?

  But I think that this is important because I think there was a time in my life where I was over idealistic, meaning like, you know, just doing good and being nice. It always gets it done. Now, sometimes you gotta check.

• 7:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:15Keke Palmer?

  A mother. You know what I mean? You really do. It's like sometimes you have to get a little dirty to, to get things clean. So I, I get it.

• 7:22Speaker 02

  And I just feel like I'm kinda right there, right now.

• 7:25Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 7:25Speaker 02

  In that balance.

• 7:26Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 7:27Speaker 02

  You know what I'm saying?

• 7:27Keke Palmer?

  Okay, today's mood in one word, blessed. I'm here with Kiki.

• 7:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, the show. I would just say, we were just saying before, I just feel like I done made it now. You know what I'm saying?

• 7:35Keke Palmer?

  Stop it.

• 7:36Speaker 02

  There's a few, there's a few podcasts that I've always wanted to be a part of, and Kiki is at the top of the list.

• 7:40Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 7:40Speaker 02

  Hey, we, we did something.

• 7:41Speaker 01

  No, for real. I just told, I just told you, Lisa, I was like, wait, when I seen Kiki pop up on the itinerary, I said, oh my God.

• 7:48Keke Palmer?

  Well, you know, you my girl. We going on a press run. And I'm a fan of yours as well.

• 7:51Speaker 02

  I appreciate you.

• 7:51Keke Palmer?

  Going hat, hat, knots, all the way back to there. So it's really dope to have both of you guys on. I respect you. And, you know, this is what the show is made of.

• 7:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, we appreciate it.

• 7:59Keke Palmer?

  Okay, what did you listen to on your ride here? Gunna, R&B, and Mob?

• 8:05Speaker 02

  Oh, R&B, FOMO. So, yeah, so, uh, I've been listening to Gunna lately. He just dropped the album and whatnot. I feel like he's always, you know, his pen game is nice, you know? I like, I like what he's bringing. And then Army FOMO is a artist out of Texas. He's, um, he's making some waves and whatnot, so.

• 8:20Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 8:20Speaker 02

  I listen to some things that are out in, uh, um, you know, out in the public and also some things that are a little underground too.

• 8:25Keke Palmer?

  Um, last screenshot on your phone, no deleting, show me. I'm seeing eyes to the side.

• 8:29Speaker 01

  Uh-oh.

• 8:29Keke Palmer?

  This must be some.

• 8:31Speaker 02

  Probably because I don't know how to, I don't know how to draw. That's probably the wrong eyes I drew.

• 8:34Keke Palmer?

  Is it a bad, is it a screenshot that, you know, is a little too much?

• 8:38Speaker 02

  No, I probably just wrote them because you said you wanted to see them.

• 8:41Keke Palmer?

  So you gonna show it?

• 8:43Speaker 02

  I ain't got my phone on. But you know what?

• 8:45Keke Palmer?

  Y'all know what that means.

• 8:48Speaker 02

  I think it was...

• 8:48Keke Palmer?

  I ain't even gonna press them.

• 8:49Speaker 02

  I always forget, like, quick information, like, codes and whatnot. So it was something similar to what you had a screenshot of.

• 8:55Keke Palmer?

  Sure it was.

• 8:56Speaker 02

  She took... She took it, well, yours was a ticket, mine was like something else, yeah.

• 9:00Keke Palmer?

  I'm just like, yeah. I'm just like, okay, what's your zodiac sign? Do you know your big three? You don't know your big three?

• 9:06Speaker 02

  I'm an Aries, though. I don't know the big three. March 24th, yeah.

• 9:09Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my dad's the 26th. Now, wait a minute, you not knowing your big three is crazy because I know you done met some girl that was like, "What time was you born?"

• 9:16Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, for sure. It goes in one and out the other, I don't know. You know what time you was born?

• 9:21Speaker 01

  I do. I asked my mom. So I can find out my big three.

• 9:25Keke Palmer?

  3:16 a.m.

• 9:26Speaker 01

  3:02?

• 9:27Keke Palmer?

  God so love Kiki.

• 9:28Speaker 01

  3:02, yeah.

• 9:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm not sure.

• 9:33Keke Palmer?

  Your love language, physical touch, yeah. Physical touch, yeah. I'm that same way, even if I'm not being romantic.

• 9:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, you're like, hold her hand, you're like, hug her.

• 9:41Keke Palmer?

  Stop! And it's like, [BLEEP] you're killing me. I had to back up on that, I'd be squeezing the hell out of people's thighs. Okay, may I have your autograph? Thank you so much. Keeping this autograph. Can't wait to sell them on eBay. Now, let's get into why you guys are here. I'm so excited about the new movie, Ruth and Boaz. This is Tyler Perry and Devon Franklin's project. But before we get into it, first of all, congratulations. I know it comes out September 26th.

• 10:08Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 10:08Keke Palmer?

  Looking forward to it, guys. This is a romance, it's gonna be good, but with some faith to it, which we always love. But what a summer, Serayah. You just had the baby.

• 10:17Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness.

• 10:17Keke Palmer?

  And you just got engaged to Joey. How are you guys feeling? I mean, just what are the vibes? How do you describe this, this year? And is it what you expected it to be? You also just turned 30.

• 10:28Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh. You see what I'm saying? There are so much going on. But you know what? Just blessed, honestly, rolling with the punches, with the vibes, and just blessed. Overwhelmed with love and overwhelmed with just all the goodness that's support. My family showed up and it's just been a lot going on. And I just, I think the, the word is blessed, for sure.

• 10:51Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, how would, how did you celebrate the milestone? Did you do a party or did you keep it low key? Because I know it was a lot.

• 10:55Speaker 01

  I kept it low key. So me and my son are literally like a couple of days apart from being just a month apart, our birthdays.

• 11:01Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 11:02Speaker 01

  So he was born, a month later I turned 30. That was like, literally like four weeks. And so we did a little cute staycation situation and kept it low key and dinner and all the things. But, um, yeah, we didn't do a big thing because I was, I couldn't, I couldn't leave.

• 11:19Keke Palmer?

  That's like my mom and I. My mom is on the 24th of August and I'm on the 26th.

• 11:23Speaker 01

  Really?

• 11:23Keke Palmer?

  Yes. So I mean, I try to do a big for her, but she be trying to do it more big for me. It's so funny when your birthday is close to your baby. Um, also Tyler, you got engaged last year. Congratulations to Miracle Watts. I mean, how has that been? You guys also have a baby.

• 11:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:37Keke Palmer?

  So how is all of this? And this is her, I know you have two other kids, so this is her first kid. How was it getting her through that first time?

• 11:45Speaker 02

  You know, I think, I think it was a lot of, of learning. You know what I mean? Because as we were just talking about, um, you know, just the experience that y'all go through, while you're pregnant, also the postpartum.

• 11:57Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 11:57Speaker 02

  And with me being a fix, you know, most men want to pull up and fix the situation. There's lots of things that are, you know, have a question mark on them.

• 12:05Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 12:05Speaker 02

  So you gotta really roll with the punches, like you said. And I feel like it's, it's been a whirlwind, but it's just been a, um, you know, it's funny, sometimes negative things will happen in life, then positive things will happen. And I realized that, you know, the, the choice of what I'm choosing to pay attention to makes a big difference for me at least.

• 12:20Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 12:20Keke Palmer?

  With out a doubt.

• 12:22Speaker 01

  That's exactly what it is.

• 12:23Keke Palmer?

  It's almost like, you know, we say it and it's, it's a cliche. Sometimes we get older and we're like, oh, it's a cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason. Glass half full, glass half empty changes your entire life, the perspective of how you choose to approach things.

• 12:33Speaker 02

  So of course it's been a whirlwind, but I just feel, um, I just feel so blessed to be able to, you know, um, just expand in my love life, expand in my career, um, you know, meeting, meeting new people in the business and,

• 12:45Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 12:45Speaker 02

  you know, just getting a, a, a deeper connection with God. I just feel like I'm focusing on the, the half full glass for sure.

• 12:51Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 12:51Speaker 02

  I'm feeling blessed.

• 12:52Keke Palmer?

  And you guys definitely have a lot to be blessed about. So I love to hear that gratitude is the greatest healer of anything.

• 12:56Speaker 02

  Amen.

• 12:57Keke Palmer?

  But since you guys are both engaged, ha, it, it could be overwhelming, but have you been thinking about wedding plans? Have you been thinking about what kind of groom you'll be, what kind of bride you'll be? Like, are we going big, low key?

• 13:09Speaker 01

  I know, I,

• 13:12Keke Palmer?

  I don't know.

• 13:13Speaker 01

  I'm just like, oh, my God.

• 13:15Keke Palmer?

  I'm ready.

• 13:16Speaker 01

  Uh, I'm ready.

• 13:17Keke Palmer?

  I'm ready.

• 13:18Speaker 01

  Wherever we going. Um, you know, I've always wanted, I feel like us women, we plan this way before it's even like.

• 13:24Keke Palmer?

  Girl, yes.

• 13:25Speaker 01

  Girl, ain't nobody even asked me nothing. Right. You don't even got a man. Um, but I always wanted a destination wedding, but I don't know.

• 13:31Keke Palmer?

  I can see that.

• 13:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, I just, I don't know. I do feel like I do want it to be like a little bit more on the intimate side, but I'm like, how do we do that? We have so much family.

• 13:38Keke Palmer?

  And friends.

• 13:39Speaker 01

  And friends.

• 13:40Keke Palmer?

  If I'm just thinking of y'all friends alone, it's 200 already.

• 13:43Speaker 01

  That's what I'm saying.

• 13:44Keke Palmer?

  But we'll be there.

• 13:46Keke Palmer?

  Do you think you turn into a bridezilla? Or do you think you'll be like a con bride? I mean, we never know till the day comes.

• 13:51Speaker 01

  You know what? I am definitely probably the con bride. Because I'm gonna have somebody that's like, I'm, I need, this is what I like, and plan it, please.

• 14:00Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 14:00Speaker 01

  Because all of the, the details and all of the things, I get overwhelmed. I told you, the Libra in me is like, cannot decide. So I'm like, hey, this is what I want, this is what I want it to look like. Go ahead.

• 14:11Keke Palmer?

  Period. And what about you, Dee?

• 14:13Speaker 02

  Um, so we have, we've narrowed it down to, uh, next, next July, so next summer.

• 14:18Keke Palmer?

  Come on to date.

• 14:19Speaker 01

  Yes, come on, date.

• 14:20Keke Palmer?

  Come on, date.

• 14:21Speaker 02

  Uh, we're gonna do it in Mexico. So it was, it was.

• 14:24Speaker 01

  Destination, yes.

• 14:25Speaker 02

  So it's difficult to try to figure it out, like you said. Um, I feel like y'all are a little bit worse than we are. Because, you know, she, uh, at first she wanted this, this huge wedding, and she has a huge family.

• 14:36Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 14:36Speaker 02

  Um, for our, for our baby shower, we did it down in Houston where she's from, and there was like 300 people at the baby shower.

• 14:41Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my goodness.

• 14:42Speaker 02

  But these are all real, like, real family members, first cousins and whatnot, so she got a huge family. So at first she wanted something big, and then, um, she wanted to elope and do something, uh, you know, really intimate, just us two. And then we kind of, uh, we kind of settled in the middle ground, and we have like a, a guest count of like 40, 45. So it's, it's semi-intimate. Yeah, for sure. Which is, which is a lot too, because there can be a lot of people that, you know, are a little, are a little upset that they didn't get a invitation. But it's, it's, you know.

• 15:10Keke Palmer?

  It is what it is.

• 15:11Speaker 02

  It is what it is.

• 15:12Keke Palmer?

  It's our day.

• 15:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:14Keke Palmer?

  Are you like an into the details type of groom? Like, are you like, or you like, baby, just tell me and I'm cool with it?

• 15:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think, I think as long as. As long as she, hey, listen. You know, me, me being able to wake up, my family's good. Um, um, you know, I'm living out my life's purpose. I have the woman of my dreams. I'm, I'm in love. Uh, you know, life, life is good. So.

• 15:36Keke Palmer?

  And you're fed. I just have to say that real quick because one of the main things I do at night is go and look at what Miracle be cooking.

• 15:41Speaker 02

  Oh, no, and I'm fed. So I'm good all the way.

• 15:44Keke Palmer?

  She is a five-star chef. If y'all have never looked at her, baked lamb.

• 15:47Speaker 01

  I have it.

• 15:48Keke Palmer?

  Steak and baked lobster. It's giving hours and hours. Lobster towers.

• 15:54Speaker 02

  Hey, now you heard this.

• 15:56Keke Palmer?

  I'm like, that man is, I'm surprised you fed like this still.

• 15:59Speaker 02

  Hey, you see me covered up for a reason. But, um, you know, really, I'm not super into the details, you know. Whatever, um, whatever's gonna make, make her happy, I'm cool with.

• 16:08Keke Palmer?

  Yeah. Now, you shared online that you're in the newborn trenches. And you and I have talked about this personally, but we, we gotta talk about it on the show. Of how you're finding your balance back to your usual routine. I mean, we see you dancing, you're in the gym. So to us, it seems like you've still maintained. But how are you able to make space for yourself in this new responsibility?

• 16:27Speaker 01

  You know what? I'm figuring it out.

• 16:28Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 16:28Speaker 01

  Every day, every hour. It's just, I'm finding it. And I feel like I want to start promoting that more.

• 16:35Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 16:35Speaker 01

  Because it's not always just, oh dang, she's still, you know, it's easy. No, I'm figuring it out. I have made it to the gym maybe twice in the past few months.

• 16:46Keke Palmer?

  Sure.

• 16:46Speaker 01

  And I think that that is, that's a milestone, right? And I think that you just celebrate the little small pieces you get. And I did, I did say something the other day on my page was like, if you get five minutes or 45 minutes. Take it. You know, and I think that that's just what I'm juggling right now. And figuring it out.

• 17:03Keke Palmer?

  How's it been with Joey? Cause I know he's, he, I think his daughter is seven, he has a seven-year-old daughter. How has, helpful has he been being able to have the maturity of having experienced this before during this?

• 17:13Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh, so helpful.

• 17:14Keke Palmer?

  I know that.

• 17:15Speaker 01

  He's very, very calm, cool, collected, you know, there for me when I'm having my little meltdown situations. Because let's talk about that.

• 17:22Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 17:23Speaker 01

  Let's talk about the night sweats and the, girl, everything.

• 17:27Keke Palmer?

  He's not latching. Ready to rip your damn nipple off like, what's wrong with you, baby?

• 17:32Speaker 01

  Right.

• 17:33Keke Palmer?

  They said it was natural.

• 17:35Speaker 01

  Went through that phase. Now, we're, you know, we're hungrier and we're all of the things. So, we're figuring it out. And, but he's been a great support.

• 17:45Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 17:45Speaker 01

  Honestly, yeah.

• 17:46Keke Palmer?

  Was there anything in particular that surprised you most about becoming a parent?

• 17:50Speaker 01

  Ooh. Something that's very interesting is how the guys can just sleep.

• 17:56Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 17:56Speaker 01

  You know?

• 17:57Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, they can.

• 17:58Speaker 02

  I can sleep through it, for sure.

• 17:59Speaker 01

  I can.

• 17:59Keke Palmer?

  And it can.

• 18:00Speaker 01

  You know, we can sleep through it.

• 18:02Keke Palmer?

  I can sleep through it.

• 18:03Speaker 01

  And every guy says that. Every guy says that. You know what I mean? And that's very interesting, but I feel like...

• 18:09Keke Palmer?

  It's a very good detail.

• 18:10Speaker 01

  Hello.

• 18:10Keke Palmer?

  I think for us, again, I mean, we had an umbilical cord.

• 18:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, no.

• 18:16Keke Palmer?

  We created a whole organ.

• 18:17Speaker 01

  I can hear the breath. Like, I cannot sleep.

• 18:18Keke Palmer?

  I can, like, my baby, I keep going in the room seeing if he's breathing.

• 18:23Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 18:24Keke Palmer?

  That, those first few months, it can drive you crazy because you're just like, are they good?

• 18:29Speaker 01

  Yes, exactly.

• 18:30Keke Palmer?

  And the daddy just knocked.

• 18:33Speaker 01

  But I think the other thing too, I would say, is kind of like, I was in a, I was in a very, like, denial space a little bit.

• 18:41Keke Palmer?

  Sure.

• 18:42Speaker 01

  I was like, whoa, I couldn't believe that, like...

• 18:44Keke Palmer?

  That you had a baby.

• 18:45Speaker 01

  That I had a baby.

• 18:46Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, you were stunned.

• 18:46Speaker 01

  I was stunned. I was shocked. I think that was one of the most craziest parts for me too. I didn't know I would feel like that.

• 18:52Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, the postpartum is huge.

• 18:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:55Keke Palmer?

  And it hits everybody differently. And I think the main thing that doesn't get talked about enough when we, when we get into it is that you don't know that what thoughts of yours are not your own. So, you think like, postpartum, you're gonna know it, as if there's a blinking light in your head that says, "Postpartum's beginning now." But no, it's just like, suddenly, but surely, everything's an emergency. All of a sudden, you're stunned or you're shocked and you don't know how to process things. You don't really want to get out of bed. You're trying to find yourself. It's almost like a midlife crisis. And then after it starts to dial down some, you start to realize... Oh, those were postpartum symptoms.

• 19:28Speaker 01

  Right.

• 19:28Keke Palmer?

  Because we don't know it. To us, it sounds like it's ourself. When I'm saying, "He's trying to kill my baby." To me, it's real, but it's like, girl, no, just let them hold the baby. You know what I mean? And so I think that's the big thing when it comes to postpartum, that I really try to, when I talk about it, normalize the reality that it just becomes a part of who you are.

• 19:47Speaker 01

  Right, right.

• 19:47Keke Palmer?

  It's not something that comes glaring at you.

• 19:50Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 19:51Keke Palmer?

  Now, Essence featured you in their 2024 Sexiest Man Alive issue, and they literally said, "Tyler Lepley doesn't get the credit he deserves for being one of the finest men in this next generation of leading male actors. His smile, swag, and the party, yes." I mean, when you hear stuff like that, what goes through your mind? Is it like added pressure? You know, is it like a little humble grin? Like, what do you feel? Because that's a lot.

• 20:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, you know, I think, I think-

• 20:14Keke Palmer?

  It's a lot they put up on my man.

• 20:17Speaker 02

  I think for me, honestly, I just, it immediately takes me back to when I decided to do this, and everybody that I spoke to about it just didn't have anything positive to say, let alone any type of support, you know? So I just, yeah, I remember like, you know, certain friends, certain family members, even getting out here, other actors that were going through a rut. You know, I checked everybody's temperature, and everybody had the same thing to say. Well, if you can't, if you can't make a way for yourself in this small pond called Philadelphia, I mean, what makes you think you can go out to the middle of the abyss and do anything different? You know, so then you fast forward a quick 15 years, and you see, you know, you see all the support coming in different, in different mediums. So that's what I really feel. It's like, you know, whatever it is that you're choosing to tune in for,

• 20:59Speaker 02

  it's like I feel that support, and that's dope because I came from the opposite.

• 21:03Keke Palmer?

  Wow, I hate to hear that, but I also love when I hear that because it's great for people that are going through that right now. People not supporting them, somebody not believing in their dreams, not knowing if they have an opportunity or a chance to make it. But if you believe, and like you were saying at the top, seeing your glass half-full and not empty, you'd be surprised at things that you can overcome.

• 21:21Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 21:21Keke Palmer?

  Before we get into Ruth and Boaz, we got to get into some of the other projects that you guys have done, because you both were a part of huge cultural moments, where these shows became phenomenons. I mean, obviously, I'm talking about you, Suriya, with Empire, and I'm talking about you, Tyler, with the Half-Half Knots. How did that change your life? Like, what do you remember when those, whichever one wants to go first, when those shows hit, and it was everywhere? I mean, it was insane with Empire.

• 21:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 21:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was, that was pretty crazy.

• 21:50Speaker 02

  What was it like?

• 21:52Keke Palmer?

  What was it like?

• 21:58Keke Palmer?

  Honey, I don't care what the pumpkin spice industry says. Summer ain't over just yet. And let me tell you, I had the vision of the perfect late summer getaway that would make earth, wind, and fire proud. I can already see it now. And I'm dancing in a spacious Airbnb living room, surrounded by my crew, belting out "Do You Remember?" Because trust me, this is a memory in the making. With all the back-to-school chaos, sometimes you need a breather. Last year, I booked a guest favorite for a quick family escape. We had bedrooms for days, a kitchen big enough for our chopped leftover edition competitions, and the kids could do their schoolwork without feeling like they were in detention. If you're looking for that last taste of summer or a cozy fall retreat, check out Airbnb Guest Favorites.

• 22:42Keke Palmer?

  I mean, seriously, these are the cream of the crop, y'all, perfect for family trips or friend getaways. You get more space, privacy, and locations that'll make your Instagram followers green with envy. Whether you're chasing the last rays of summer or embracing the pumpkin everything, Airbnb has a spot for you. Baby, I just had the wildest ride with The Prophecy: Season 2 on Audible. And Kerry Washington, she's taking supernatural thriller to a whole new level. Dr. Virginia Edwards really thought she could finally breathe easy, but the universe said, "Not today." Just as she's setting in with her family, the power-hungry billionaire cult leader shows up threatening everything she's protected.

• 23:24Keke Palmer?

  On top of that, she's being hit with these intense visions, cryptic, otherworldly, and impossible to ignore. Now, she's racing against time with just one month to decode them before the world falls apart. And where do these visions lead her? Straight into the deep south on a relentless run. Giancarlo Esposito is locked in as the villain, and he's hot on her heels and coming with full force. But good thing Virginia's got her trusted Ally Moses, played by Dulé Hill, riding shotgun. He and Kerry Washington go way back to psych, but this time, their characters are trying to stop a plan that could change the world forever. The performances will grab you. And the sound design, it'll pull you so deep into Virginia's world, you'll be looking over your shoulder at every strange noise.

• 24:10Keke Palmer?

  Whether you caught the first season or you're diving in fresh, the Prophecy Season 2 serves up thrills, chills, and some serious "what would I do?" moments. Ready to test your faith and face your fears? Listen to the Prophecy Season 2, now on Audible. Head to audible.com/prophecy2 for your free trial. Trust me, this is one prophecy you want to hear.

• 24:35Keke Palmer?

  I mean, it all came so fast. I mean, I know before then you were performing and stuff, but I know you were working at, was it Forever 20? Where were you working when you?

• 24:41Speaker 01

  No, girl, so, yeah, so, H and M, yes.

• 24:44Keke Palmer?

  You know, kind of maybe a low-key more vibe, but still working on your goals.

• 24:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:47Keke Palmer?

  So then you get, you become Tiana, and then?

• 24:51Speaker 01

  No, I mean, literally, from, from, you know, no, no place to live to?

• 24:59Keke Palmer?

  How did you hear about audition?

• 25:01Speaker 01

  From H and M, right to Empire. So crazy. One of my friends from high school hit me up. His name is Dejean.

• 25:08Keke Palmer?

  You got to shout out Dejean.

• 25:09Speaker 01

  Okay, Dejean always gives a shout out from me. Hello. And he was like, oh, um, his, his stepmom is Leah Daniels.

• 25:21Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 25:21Speaker 01

  Never knew that before, though.

• 25:23Keke Palmer?

  Just for those who's listening or watching don't know, Lee Daniels' sister Leah Daniels, she's also a casting director.

• 25:28Speaker 01

  Casting director, right. So they're looking for this character. They had been, um, Tiana on Empire, they had been auditioning for months or whatever. And no, you know, uh, studio liked him. They didn't like, you know, all this stuff going on. So anyways, he hits me up, oh, are you still, you know, acting? Are you still like doing music and stuff? I'm like, yes. And then he's like, well, my mom has this, there's this new show they're doing, and, um, you know, they're auditioning for this role, and I think that you could be cool for them. I don't care what it is, just send it to me. I don't have no auditions, no agent, no nothing. I was just ready to do whatever.

• 26:02Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 26:03Speaker 01

  So we sent it through. My mom over there, she's still right here. We went over the lines all night. I auditioned. They sent that through, then I had to come back and audition a second time. And then it was like, okay, we're already shooting, we're filming. We need her in Chicago. And then, literally, I just like stumbled on set. And everybody there was already casted, so Taraji, you know, Jessie. They're like, oh, you're Tiana. Okay, we've been waiting to see who Tiana was.

• 26:34Keke Palmer?

  I mean, what was it like meeting Taraji? Being on the set with Taraji and Terrence Howard, especially this all coming so fast?

• 26:40Speaker 01

  Girl, I was like this. Hi.

• 26:44Speaker 01

  I was 19. 19.

• 26:46Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my gosh, and where were you living before then?

• 26:48Speaker 01

  Um, the Valley.

• 26:50Keke Palmer?

  Okay, you was in that life, so then now you're in Chicago, my city turned up.

• 26:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, then I come to your city, know nothing about nothing. Staying at the Thompson. Just going back and forth and, and, and just one thing led to another. I was, I was a guest star, reoccurring. And I think I was a guest star until like season three or something like that.

• 27:09Keke Palmer?

  I mean, you were incredible, you are incredible. One thing I loved about that show, that it gave people the opportunity, especially multi-hyphenates, is to show singing, dancing, and acting. Because people be knowing you be singing, people be knowing you be acting, but you are also a great dancer. I remember when you did the video, I forget which video it was with Chris Brown, just...

• 27:25Speaker 01

  Undecided.

• 27:26Keke Palmer?

  Dancing your ass, I'm like, so I love that we got to see that with that show. And obviously we continue to see that as fans of yours, but that was an iconic moment, will always remain in culture. And you, Tyler, with the have and have nots. I mean, what was that experience like? Where were you in your career when you got that opportunity?

• 27:44Speaker 02

  Uh, I was, I was a personal trainer at the time.

• 27:47Keke Palmer?

  Okay, that tracks. I feel like I could see you being like, alright, squat, hold your back up, spine straight.

• 27:54Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness.

• 27:58Keke Palmer?

  You know, they always say that, like, what are y'all talking about? The spine can't bend. Obviously straight.

• 28:05Speaker 02

  I was, um, I was, man, I was on my last couple of dollars too.

• 28:08Keke Palmer?

  Wow.

• 28:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, for sure. I remember, um, getting to, down to like my last client, see, so when we're, when we're chasing our dream, like, we always gotta keep a couple of dollars, you know, in the tank.

• 28:20Keke Palmer?

  Yes, yes.

• 28:21Speaker 02

  But then, you know, at, at some point, you know, it gets, like, you can play both sides up until like a certain point, you gotta make a choice. So for me, it was like, you know, I had, you know, my ten clients and I was going on auditions, cool, like audition here and there. Then I really liked it and then I was going on a few more auditions and brought the client list down to like five and all of a sudden I'm down to my last client.

• 28:39Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 28:39Speaker 02

  And she's really just here, um, you know, this, this client is helping me pay my rent and pay my car and that's it. And my, and my acting class and this, this is what I'm doing now.

• 28:49Keke Palmer?

  Yep.

• 28:49Speaker 02

  So I'm probably like a year and a half into moving to LA. Um, and I remember, I remember I needed some more money to be able to go out to the final callback. He was hav- he was having one of the callbacks out in, in Atlanta.

• 29:02Keke Palmer?

  She had to fly out.

• 29:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, and, and they, they flew us out and put it, put us up, but like, when I say I'm down to my last dollar, like, if everything's paid, like, I don't got a, I don't got a couple of dollars for a sandwich. You know what I mean? Like, I'm, I'm, if I'm broke, I'm broke for real.

• 29:13Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, we're going into debt.

• 29:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, we're going into debt now.

• 29:16Keke Palmer?

  Right, right.

• 29:18Speaker 02

  So I remember, um, long story short, I had asked, can we do, uh, twenty sessions so I can get a little bit more upfront instead of our ten sessions? Um, it's gonna be, end up being the same amount of sessions anyway. Long story short, uh, the answer was no. And, uh, and she had, she had her two cents too. She said, um, this would, she was an English woman. And, uh, and she said, it would almost be like if my, uh, my, my doctor was, uh, pardon me for the, for the butchered accent.

• 29:43Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, I'm like, is she Jamaican now?

• 29:45Speaker 02

  She said, that would be like my doctor telling me he's gonna quit to become a dancer.

• 29:51Keke Palmer?

  Oh, really?

• 29:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, so almost like, like, who are you, you, you said you finna go what, be an actor? Imagine if my doctor told me he gonna quit and become a, a dancer.

• 29:58Keke Palmer?

  She thought she ate a dancer.

• 29:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, she was trying to play, yeah, she was like, she ate a dancer. She thought that was a mic drop moment.

• 30:02Keke Palmer?

  She was cooking.

• 30:04Speaker 02

  Anyway, so that was the, um, so I ended up doing it anyway, just put the faith up and, uh, you know, that was actually the last callback for the haves and have nots. And I switched them out on the. Switched them out on the same day, how about that?

• 30:15Speaker 01

  What?

• 30:16Keke Palmer?

  Oh my gosh, God is really a comedian.

• 30:19Speaker 02

  But, um, yeah, yeah. But I remember, I remember diving in, in, into that for the first time, going from zero pages to a hundred pages a day. Can you imagine?

• 30:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:26Keke Palmer?

  Cause Tyler doesn't play. I mean, you can tell me, what was the experience of being a part? I mean, I worked with Tyler when I was a kid, but this is before he had the empire he has now. Like I did Madea's Summer Reunion, then I did, um, oh my gosh, House of Pain, when he just started building the studios. But now Tyler is, you know, you damn near Walt Disney.

• 30:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:43Keke Palmer?

  You know what I mean? Like he really has his own thing. So when you are working with him up close and seeing that, what kind of things did you take from? He engineers his own work.

• 30:53Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 30:54Keke Palmer?

  I mean, so what did you learn in that process? Cause it's a lot of, it's a lot of work for all of you.

• 30:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, I, I would say the main thing is just, uh, what, what, what a real work ethic looks like. You know, this is, this is the billionaire who's showing up. He's, he's there before everybody and he's the last one to leave. He's, he's out working everybody here. You know what I mean? It's like, and it just puts it into perspective, um, you know, what it takes to get there. A lot of people like to look at it and be like, oh yeah, like billionaire. And all of a sudden billionaires are popping up left and right. It feels like it's attainable to the outside. It's like, but when you get on the inside, you see what it really takes to get there.

• 31:25Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 31:26Speaker 02

  My man is a, is a, is just a workaholic. And, and you know what? He just, all right, my last thing about Tyler Perry, sorry.

• 31:32Keke Palmer?

  I love Tyler.

• 31:33Speaker 02

  He just, man, he, it's, it's just, it's amazing how he can still stay so grounded. And he'd be, he'd be just like this with you, kicking all the game in the world there for as long as you need.

• 31:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:42Speaker 02

  So I've, I've, I've taken that from him, yeah.

• 31:44Keke Palmer?

  I've been at my worst and been like, hey T, I just need a couple of words. Prayers, support, insane advice. So I, I couldn't agree with you more that, you know, good people is good people and they're, and they're blessed because of it. Um, as an actress and a musician, as we were talking about, how do you feel like one side feeds the other creatively? And I get this question a lot where people are like, do you like more? No, I like them all the same. But they do feed each other and like, I know when I want to get in one bag over the other. Like I feel like lately, I, obviously you're getting ready to do, uh, this movie's getting ready to come out. But I feel like I have been seeing you do a lot of music on your page. I feel like you're getting, getting in your music bag in this season a little bit. So how do you know when you want to do what?

• 32:21Speaker 01

  You know what? It's very interesting and I do get that question a lot. So that's probably the number one question I get. But I think that they definitely feed each other. I think that it's just, it's different parts of you creatively, right? Like I feel music is like me and my. Authentic stuff, whatever I want to talk about. And I also always grew up like journaling and things like that. So it kind of turns into that type of like release for me.

• 32:49Speaker 01

  Whereas with film and acting, I get to like kind of tap into like a different side of me creatively and like bring different things out and and find out what resonates with myself and my character and different things like that. It's it's it's like painting, I think. But it's like canvases and they're just like slightly different, but it's still painting, right? Yeah.

• 33:11Keke Palmer?

  I think people are starting to come around in our generation. Like when I was younger, it was very fragmented, what you were allowed to do as an entertainer. It was just you was an actor, you was a singer, you was a comedian.

• 33:19Speaker 01

  Right.

• 33:19Keke Palmer?

  Now I feel like we're having the opportunity to reintroduce the concept of just being an artist.

• 33:25Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 33:25Keke Palmer?

  And like you said, expressing yourself in whatever medium you see fit. If you want to paint, you know what I mean? If you want to dance, sing, whatever, it's all a part of you expressing yourself as an artist. And so I love when we're not allowing those rules to stop us from being everything we are. Between Harlem and P. Valley, you're showing a lot of different sides of yourself. Which role do people stop you about most in the street?

• 33:49Speaker 02

  You know, overall, I don't know. If I'm in the South, I get a lot of P. Valley. If I'm, I get a lot of Harlem too, but I can't lie, I get the most have and have nots.

• 33:58Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 33:58Speaker 02

  For sure.

• 33:59Speaker 01

  What, really?

• 34:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:00Speaker 01

  That makes sense.

• 34:01Speaker 02

  Even after all this time.

• 34:02Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 34:02Speaker 02

  It was crazy, yeah.

• 34:03Keke Palmer?

  Because I mean, how many seasons was that?

• 34:05Speaker 02

  I think it was nine seasons.

• 34:07Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness.

• 34:07Speaker 02

  And you know Tyler Perry just has his, like you said, he's like, he's the, he's the, he's like Walt Disney.

• 34:13Keke Palmer?

  Yes, and I mean, that's a soap opera. Like, we don't get, like, that was a clear, like, that could have been, I could, if he wanted to, he could have made that like Days of Our Lives and it could have went on 25 seasons, you know?

• 34:21Speaker 02

  And his audience is just...

• 34:23Speaker 01

  But how long did it take you to shoot? Because I know he shoots really fast.

• 34:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, it still took about seven or eight years. But, but you know, you're shooting that whole, this is back when we were doing 22 episodes and whatnot. You know, we were in and out in three weeks for 20 episodes, I promise you. No, no, no cap.

• 34:37Keke Palmer?

  Doesn't it do you to go on work some time? I mean, you want a break too.

• 34:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:40Keke Palmer?

  But when you on your breaks, don't y'all feel, like, I feel like this all the time. Whenever I'm working, I'm like, ah, get me off of here. And as soon as I'm on break, huh.

• 34:47Speaker 02

  Get me back.

• 34:47Keke Palmer?

  When's the next time I'm gonna work again?

• 34:48Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 34:49Keke Palmer?

  It's so weird. Cause we always, people don't know, as entertainers, we out of a job.

• 34:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:53Speaker 01

  No.

• 34:53Keke Palmer?

  Till we get a job.

• 34:54Speaker 01

  Seriously.

• 34:55Speaker 02

  It's like independent contract.

• 34:56Speaker 01

  I'm like, literally, jobless.

• 34:57Keke Palmer?

  Literally, I'm jobless till they hire me again.

• 35:00Speaker 02

  Right.

• 35:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:01Keke Palmer?

  So, they don't know, it's a free-flowing job.

• 35:03Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 35:03Keke Palmer?

  Okay, now let's get into what we're here to talk about. You guys are starring in Ruth and Boaz. This is a new Netflix film that reimagines a classic biblical love story. Now, what spoke to you most about this? And I have to ask too, especially as like, I'm somebody that's nervous whenever I get, whenever a romance comes across my desk, unless it's like goofy and stuff, I'm spooked. Because I'm like, I'm gonna have to kiss, and we're gonna have a love scene. So, how did y'all feel when this opportunity came for this movie? That is, it's a romance, you know, but we had the faith to it. So, what were you thinking? Any apprehensions, any concerns?

• 35:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, okay, so, love, love story, right? But, um, Devon did kinda like brief me on what it was, and, um, when I went through this. Devon Franklin, the producer. Devon Franklin, the producer. And so, when I read the script, I was like, okay, this is giving wholesome, black love. And so.

• 35:55Keke Palmer?

  Fabulous.

• 35:55Speaker 01

  Yes, and so, I was, I was really here for it. I love a good love story, and I want to see us in good love stories more often. So, I think that was something that really rang to me, and it was always on my vision board. I had Love Jones on my vision board. And so, I'm like.

• 36:13Keke Palmer?

  You know, I always tell you who you look like.

• 36:16Keke Palmer?

  Robin Givens.

• 36:17Speaker 01

  Oh, yes, yes, you do.

• 36:18Keke Palmer?

  I tell you that every time I see you. So, Boomerang remake, you need to be Robin.

• 36:22Speaker 01

  How low can we do it?

• 36:24Keke Palmer?

  Girl, you give me that down. I live for her too. I don't know who don't live for her, but yes.

• 36:29Speaker 01

  We love, we love Robin.

• 36:30Keke Palmer?

  Yes, we love her.

• 36:31Speaker 01

  Um, but yeah, so, that was something that was like, I was here for it. Cause I was like really excited, obviously, Devon Franklin, Tyler Perry. Never worked with Tyler Perry before, it's my first time.

• 36:39Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 36:40Speaker 01

  When, when I, uh, drove onto the lot, and I got my little key card, I was like.

• 36:44Keke Palmer?

  Yeah! It just give life.

• 36:47Speaker 01

  It does. Driving up, it's beautiful. I mean, y'all at home, like, it's beautiful. And I mean, so inspiring. But, other than that, um, auditioning was awesome, you know, we did, I was at, we were, okay. We were actually filming a whole nother movie. We auditioned virtually. We were on the same movie.

• 37:06Speaker 02

  From like the same hotel.

• 37:07Keke Palmer?

  Oh yeah, what was the other movie?

• 37:08Speaker 01

  We were on the same movie, girl.

• 37:09Keke Palmer?

  Cause I know the cast of that one too.

• 37:10Speaker 01

  Goons.

• 37:11Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 37:12Speaker 01

  It's a slasher horror movie. We're on the same movie. We're going to work.

• 37:15Speaker 02

  Complete opposite.

• 37:16Speaker 01

  Complete opposite of what.

• 37:17Keke Palmer?

  Going from art to baby.

• 37:20Speaker 01

  Completely opposite. We come down, I don't know, how did it happen? I seen you in the lobby and he was like, yeah, I'm doing my audition.

• 37:26Keke Palmer?

  And you're like, me too.

• 37:27Speaker 02

  Same thing, yeah.

• 37:28Speaker 01

  And then we're here like, you know, doing the chemistry read via, you know, virtually. It was crazy.

• 37:34Keke Palmer?

  Chemistry virtually is nuts.

• 37:36Speaker 01

  Cause it's crazy.

• 37:36Keke Palmer?

  Isn't that defeating the?

• 37:37Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 37:38Speaker 01

  Crazy.

• 37:39Keke Palmer?

  Chemistry through the wifi. Um, okay, so what were you thinking and feeling, T?

• 37:45Speaker 02

  Uh, I think the first thing I was feeling was excited to do something I have never done before. I've never did a, been a part of a love story. Um, like specifically, even, you know, when you get into Harlem, yeah, it's romance, but it's comedy as well. It's like a rom com. So I've never did anything that, uh, you know, specifically gets to dive into just a love story. So I was excited about that. Um, obviously to piggyback off of some of the things you were talking about Netflix, Tyler Perry, Devon Franklin, you know what I'm saying? Serayah, you know what I mean? So it's like, I was excited about that as well. But then when I actually, like, once I got the role and then I was able to read the script, I was just really excited about us being able to tell our version of this. Cause as you had mentioned, it's in the, you know, it's an older story in the Bible, originated in the Bible.

• 38:25Speaker 02

  But then just, just where we're at with, with dating, you know, we've talked about this here and there on, you know, certain, in certain interviews. Uh, it just feels like everything is very transactional. Love is just on the surface, it's transactional. I can't look at you if you don't pull up with stars on the roof. It's just like, what's going on?

• 38:42Keke Palmer?

  Am I working the corners?

• 38:44Speaker 02

  Right.

• 38:45Keke Palmer?

  Or am I working my heart? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I mean, I, I live for, you know, look, you need to make sure you're in an equal relationship where you're, there's an equal give and take.

• 38:54Speaker 02

  And I get it, yeah.

• 38:55Keke Palmer?

  And that's important. And it's finances is the top of your list. That's real. We live in a dying economy. So yeah, get it where you live it.

• 39:01Speaker 01

  Right.

• 39:01Keke Palmer?

  But I do think we are in a time where because we're in a dying economy and because everything is so rooted on survival, sometimes we're not even creating any space for genuine love and connection. We're not getting the opportunity to meet people from a place. Of being completely secure and full. And in return, it becomes very transactional.

• 39:20Speaker 02

  Yeah. And I feel like, you know, where Boaz meets Ruth, it's not, you know, she's definitely not the finished product. She's, you know, she's, you know, she's perfect. No, but you know what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying? She's going through, you know, she's getting ran out of her old, old place. She finds a new job. Yeah, and I just feel like, in the, in the real world, sometimes we make the mistake of feeling like we have to level all the way up to be.

• 39:46Speaker 01

  To be ready.

• 39:47Speaker 02

  To be ready for love. No, love can meet you right where you're at. God is always working, you know?

• 39:51Keke Palmer?

  That is everything. Facts, facts, facts, because, by the way, who in their 30s is all the way leveled up?

• 39:58Speaker 02

  Right, we're talking about, right. I got grades, I don't know what I'm doing.

• 40:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, that doesn't even make sense. It doesn't make sense.

• 40:05Keke Palmer?

  Now, the film also features Felicia Rashad and some cameos from music legends like, first of all, Jermaine Dupri and Babyface. I mean, what was it like being on the set with all of these legends?

• 40:14Speaker 02

  You got a chance to actually work with them a bit more.

• 40:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, I did. Felicia Rashad, she's just everything.

• 40:20Keke Palmer?

  The icon.

• 40:21Speaker 01

  She's the icon, she's the regal. She's just everything. I just love talking to her and getting to know her. And I found out we have a, our birthdays are a day apart. Oh, my gosh.

• 40:31Keke Palmer?

  She's a Gemini too.

• 40:32Speaker 01

  Yes, girl. And so, that was awesome. But, but Jermaine and obviously Babyface. I mean, I was so nervous. It was epic.

• 40:44Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 40:44Speaker 01

  I was so nervous. Yes. We're gonna record with Babyface in LA. We're gonna fly you out. And I was like, oh, ciao. I walked in, you see Whitney, and you see, you just, everybody's on the.

• 40:55Keke Palmer?

  When you think about Babyface's catalog, it gets kind of silly. The Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, let's start and begin there. You know what I mean?

• 41:02Speaker 01

  You know what I'm saying?

• 41:04Speaker 01

  So I go in and he's so poised and he's so chill and laid back. And he's like, yeah, we're gonna do this. And are you ready? And I'm just like, okay, I wanna flip out right now. But, you know what I mean? I mean, it was great. He's awesome.

• 41:18Speaker 01

  And Jermaine was super cool too.

• 41:20Keke Palmer?

  Love Jermaine.

• 41:20Speaker 01

  It was really cool.

• 41:21Keke Palmer?

  They be up still making hits.

• 41:22Speaker 01

  He really is.

• 41:24Keke Palmer?

  With the money line.

• 41:24Speaker 01

  Yes, he is. It was also cool to see them in our element as far as film and TV.

• 41:31Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 41:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, that was, that was pretty cool.

• 41:32Speaker 01

  He was kinda like, wait, like, oh wait, I did my line wrong and you know. It was, it was really cool to see, you know, that moment. And him ask me questions. I'm like, he's asking me something. So it was, it was really cool. It was awesome.

• 41:47Keke Palmer?

  How was it getting into the emotional romance bag? Did you guys learn something about yourself? Were there nerves? Did you guys have sideline conversations like, okay, this is a big scene? You know, how are we gonna support each other in this? Or did you kinda go head first?

• 41:59Speaker 02

  I just don't know how she got through this while she was pregnant.

• 42:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was about to say, let's talk about this.

• 42:09Keke Palmer?

  When I think about Church's Chicken, I'm taken back to those nights we tried to figure out what we were picking up for dinner. And my dad would say, "Churches." I'm not gonna lie. We had a little tradition of our own. We'd always snag one of those fresh baked honey butter biscuits for the car ride home. Sorry, family. Quality control purposes, you know? That's what makes Churches so special. It's fresh, hand-breaded chicken seasoned just right. I still do the jalapeno squeeze, just like my dad taught me. It's part of the experience now. And those honey butter biscuits I mentioned, baked from scratch, daily. And yes, they're worth the potential family drama. What I love is how Churches always comes through with portions that can feed everybody. Even after our little quality control moments, everything's made with real care. And you can taste it.

• 42:53Keke Palmer?

  At the end of the day, Churches Chicken is more than just a meal. It's family. It's tradition. It's home. Find your next meal and deal at churches.com.

• 43:05Keke Palmer?

  How was you able to hide that?

• 43:06Speaker 01

  So the first, so, well, the first.

• 43:08Keke Palmer?

  Body snatch like that?

• 43:10Speaker 01

  No, as soon as we started filming, literally, like, maybe that week or, I don't even know. I think it was right before production started and we were doing pre-production, I found out. Girl, I mean, it's like as soon as you peel the stick.

• 43:24Keke Palmer?

  You're going to do a romance with.

• 43:25Speaker 01

  Tyler Leslie.

• 43:27Keke Palmer?

  I know what to do.

• 43:28Speaker 01

  I am so done. I am so done with you.

• 43:34Keke Palmer?

  Good job, Joey.

• 43:36Speaker 01

  I found out and as soon as, as soon as that happened, I was so sick. So to be honest, it, I don't even, I don't even understand how I. I was, I was just jumping in.

• 43:47Keke Palmer?

  Well, like we said at the top, I know how you did it. You did it as a mother at work boss babe. I mean, it's, it's just in you, it's not on you. Um, the root, the movie is rooted in like faith and chosen family. How have those principles shown up for you guys in your lives?

• 44:03Speaker 02

  At the end of the day, when, when, when the, it's really hits the fan. And it's like, it's just, it's just you and yourself, the faith is all that you have. I'm, I'm speaking for myself, you know, so, uh, I, I'll, I'll follow faith into the dirt. You know what I mean? It, it just is what it is, we're all gonna go one day. I feel like, um, you know, I, I feel like I know exactly what I'm here for. I'm figuring it out more and more every day, but like I have a, I have like an overall, uh, idea of what I'm here for and it's, it's not just to like pay bills and pass away. You know what I mean? It's, um, so I have faith in every aspect of my life with, um, you know, with what I'm doing, with film and TV, um, with what I'm doing with my fiance, uh, my relationship with my parents. You know, that's, it's, it's been rocky at times.

• 44:48Keke Palmer?

  Is your stepfather also white? I know your mother is white, so yeah, so you grew up as the only black person in your family?

• 44:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, for sure.

• 44:54Keke Palmer?

  So how was that experience? Yeah, I mean, that's.

• 44:59Keke Palmer?

  Am I being microaggressed or do you love me?

• 45:03Keke Palmer?

  I mean, it can be hard if nobody understands your experience, you know, it's, I can only imagine.

• 45:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll say this, you know, uh, me and, me and, uh, being one of the reps from Netflix, Jelisa, we were, uh, talking about this recently. And, you know, I'll say that it was, it was very, very different, very difficult to be, to have to be able to figure everything out, you know, alone. Now, my parents, the one thing my parents, uh, did just the best job in the world at was making sure I had that foundation of love. No matter what, no matter what I. Messed up on or or or with, I was always able to go home and my parents both had my back, loved me to death. No matter what, and I never felt that waiver at all. You know, and that was enough to give me the springboard to go figure out who I was.

• 45:47Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 45:48Speaker 02

  You know, especially, um, you know, it's like, who, who am I? You know, it's just a lot. Especially when you don't have like a OG or anybody in your family to teach you about it. You know what I mean? I had to, in the nature versus nurture aspect, it was all nature. In terms of like who I am, who am I culturally and racially and stuff.

• 46:04Keke Palmer?

  What about in school? I know you grew up in Philly, but like what kind of school did you go to? Were there, it was at a diverse school? Did you at least have some?

• 46:10Speaker 02

  All, all, all white.

• 46:12Keke Palmer?

  Uh-uh, really?

• 46:13Speaker 02

  My best friends, okay.

• 46:15Keke Palmer?

  I didn't know why we laughing at that.

• 46:19Keke Palmer?

  She said, it's not funny.

• 46:20Speaker 02

  So you said, all right, cool, cool. So I did this, I did this story the other day and it was too deep, we just gonna keep this one light. But it just, it just helps shine a light on like what I went through.

• 46:28Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 46:29Speaker 02

  Having to deal with it alone.

• 46:30Keke Palmer?

  Right.

• 46:30Speaker 02

  Um, with the love that I had for my parents. So my best friend, I'm in second grade, my best friend in third grade. He, uh, I'm on the bus and he says, uh, do you know, do you know where the [BLEEP] is?

• 46:40Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 46:42Speaker 01

  He was saying.

• 46:42Keke Palmer?

  Not do I know.

• 46:43Speaker 02

  Do you know where one is? I said, before I, before I could say no, he said, that's where you are.

• 46:47Speaker 01

  It's you. Yeah.

• 46:50Speaker 02

  Bus stop, he got off the bus, he said, all right, I'm gonna holla at you tomorrow. Just informing me, just informing.

• 46:56Keke Palmer?

  I'm gonna holla at you tomorrow.

• 46:57Speaker 02

  Nah, he didn't say that. But I remember, I remember.

• 47:01Keke Palmer?

  My?

• 47:01Speaker 02

  My [BLEEP], no. So I just remember processing that on the ride home, like.

• 47:05Keke Palmer?

  I know. And had you heard the word before?

• 47:08Speaker 02

  No, but I knew, I felt it. I knew something.

• 47:10Speaker 01

  That word is very.

• 47:12Speaker 02

  So then I remember by the time, by the time I got home, like, you know, then the waterworks start coming. He's like, my parents were there for me, they loved me. And, and I remember even them marching down to homeboy's crib. And, you know, my dad stood on business to let him know we wasn't riding for that. And all that was great, but like, you know, when it's time to go home and like, you know, I'm in my room alone, I wake up the next morning. And you know, and then, and the rest of the life, you know, after that, it's like, this is something that I had to really figure out for myself. So to take it back, you know, the, the, the faith, the faith in that scenario works because God is never gonna steer me wrong. And even in terms of like, like my parents, like I put the faith everywhere. Even in terms of my parents, at that time, I didn't know if they was gonna be able to.

• 47:51Keke Palmer?

  Show up for you.

• 47:52Speaker 02

  Show up for me.

• 47:53Keke Palmer?

  And it's a hard thing to show up for.

• 47:55Speaker 02

  But you know, but thirty, thirty-seven years later. Damn it, they right there for me. You see what I'm saying? So it's like the faith has always, uh, has always served me.

• 48:04Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I mean, I had similar experiences growing up, going to private school. You know, both my parents are black, but they still, I still am gonna be, as a minority, you're gonna be in situations where you are the minority. I was the only black kid in my class. They telling me my hair snap, crackle and poppin', and I'm like, what's wrong with it?

• 48:19Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:20Keke Palmer?

  You know, I mean, this is just, it's what it do. I got gel in my hair. It's a little hard, but it's cool. You know, and so you go through these experiences and sometimes your parents, even as, my parents are black people, they were like, you gotta go there and get your education and get the education that we paid for you to get. This is what it's about. And you gotta ignore these people, you gotta hold your head up high, and they're teaching me how to navigate it without letting, and that stuff that, yes, that's stuff that I take with me to this day as a black woman in corporate America. Like, everybody not gonna like me, and sometimes people might say something crazy to you, and you cannot, Toni Morrison said, "The greatest form of racism is a distraction. It distracts you. It stops you from being on your goal, 'cause you worried about telling this person you got value and teaching this person your worth." I don't really care if you see it or not. I'm focused on the prize.

• 49:04Keke Palmer?

  And I couldn't agree with you more with, with that faith. How's it showed up? I just wanna know from you too, how's it showed up for you? Um, and even, especially in this time of your life, going through these changes, um, you know, what does it look like for you with your family and, and your faith?

• 49:16Speaker 01

  Ooh, girls, everything, okay? Faith every day, every moment, every hour, okay? I mean, for me, and I never knew that. Wow, that was very compelling, but I think for-

• 49:29Keke Palmer?

  We do our research.

• 49:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, you, okay, okay. Um, no, but for me, I think, you know, it's, it's in everything I do. I have to. I feel like I don't have anything without it, honestly. I, I grew up very faith-based, um, and so it's, it's embedded in me in that way as well. But then on my own journey, you know, as I became a big girl, a grown adult, um, you have to take that with you in every different situation, and I can tell you, whatever prayers grandma and ma prayed over me has kept me in a lot of different situations, out of a lot of situations, and took me through a lot of hard situations. So I think that-

• 50:13Speaker 01

  When I am facing tough times, I do lean on that. I do have those conversations with my God. You know what I'm saying? And I think that that definitely just brings me through because I don't know what I'm doing.

• 50:25Keke Palmer?

  Yes. And I think that's the big thing we gotta always say.

• 50:29Speaker 01

  Can we talk about that?

• 50:29Keke Palmer?

  Don't know what I'm doing.

• 50:30Speaker 01

  Have no clue.

• 50:32Keke Palmer?

  Free flowing. You know what I mean? Just, hey, rocking with what I can. I love what you said about the prayers, too. And I think me and my friends often talk about that when we look at the blessings in our lives that we feel like we did. Like, I feel like there's so much that's happened in my life that I did nothing to get. Not saying that you deserve blessings, things happen for you. But like just my parents, you know, whoever prayed for them, that prayer came to me. And whatever prayers that were said before, years back and back, we are still reaping the benefit of those prayers. And I think that's so incredible, you know, when you look back and think about those that prayed for you.

• 51:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:05Keke Palmer?

  You guys both talk openly about mental health as well. I know that you have your deserving love foundation. How did you come to creating that? And what made you feel that it was an important thing to do?

• 51:15Speaker 01

  Actually, that's definitely my mom. That she has always been cultivating deserving love. It wasn't always called deserving love, but it's always been there as an idea, you know? And the identity of it is uplifting women and single parent moms. And having this overall, kind of like, we meet up. We see each other face to face. We talk about things. We have speakers come sometimes. It's just, it's really about cultivating that community and sisterhood. And that's kind of like where we're starting. And we want to do retreats and we want to, we just want to really push mental health

• 51:58Speaker 01

  to the front, but then also having community. Because right now, a lot of things are virtual. Everything's online. And I think we have to pull up for each other. We need to be in each other's face.

• 52:09Keke Palmer?

  And IRL, like, come on, can we come outside?

• 52:11Speaker 01

  Literally, the energy, we need it, we need it back. So, and it's truly, honestly, every time we do a sister, we call it sister circle. Every time we do sister circle, it's someone leaves feeling like, oh, my gosh, I didn't know I needed this so much. Or I could, when's the next one? Or how can I help? How can I be a part? And we're growing. And I think the fact, when I see people changing in real time and affecting people in real time, I'm like, okay.

• 52:40Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, and I love the name Deserving Love. I remember I got into an argument or just like a conversation with my friend, who wasn't of the same background as me, about the word deserve with love and with God. And I'm like, it means so much different when you live and experience as a black woman, where you're often told what you don't deserve. And you're actually always entitled to it. You're entitled to love. You're entitled to God's love. You're entitled to feeling of value and worth. And so it is important, the way that we use language, a lot of times is different the way that other people use language. Some people might think that means something else, but no, like I deserve it because I've been told that I didn't. And so we have to rework that with those affirmations. So I also love the title because that's important. When it comes to language, it's important to say, I deserve things,

• 53:24Keke Palmer?

  especially when you've often been told you don't.

• 53:26Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 53:27Keke Palmer?

  So thank you for doing that work. And then how did you find your way into, you know, just caring about mental health? And I know that sounds crazy, but I do feel like it's something that many of us are still waking up to. It's like, it's okay to sit on that lady couch. You know what I mean? Go see that lady and quick.

• 53:45Keke Palmer?

  So how did you realize you needed to take a plop?

• 53:49Speaker 02

  And I do also love that name, by the way, Deserving Love.

• 53:52Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 53:54Speaker 02

  So I actually got started with, so how long I've been with Gary?

• 53:58Keke Palmer?

  I love, we call him Gary. What a G.

• 54:02Speaker 02

  Yo G.

• 54:04Speaker 02

  I haven't been there in a couple of months, but maybe like it's been over 10 years. So I would say I first got into it because I got into it for work purposes.

• 54:15Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 54:16Speaker 02

  You know, so you get there and whatever it is that they need, they need it on action. You know what I'm saying? So it's like I was having trouble getting right there, getting on action. So, you know, one of my acting coaches was like, here's my rolodex of people. Like go talk to a few people. And so I sat down with Gary for a while. And then, and then I started. I started seeing why I needed it in life. You know, so it did, it did help the first, first.

• 54:40Keke Palmer?

  It opened you up.

• 54:40Speaker 02

  Couple of months, couple of years, whatever. It worked, I would go on set and I was, I was noticing some improvement and it was great. But then as I kept going, I started noticing that I was having, you know, I was working on certain skillsets in therapy that I was able to use, you know, when things got tricky and, you know, relationships in real life. Friendships, business colleagues, whoever. And I would say that I realized, again, Aries, fire sign, either I was blowing up, either I was making a mess.

• 55:05Keke Palmer?

  Cause y'all will hold stuff in.

• 55:07Speaker 02

  Yes, exactly. I've been very keen to that, yeah, because that's like one of the things I struggle with. And because we're holding in, either when it comes out, it's gonna blow up and you're just making a mess. Which isn't really, uh, feeling your anger, by the way, you're just making a mess.

• 55:22Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, you're avoiding it.

• 55:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, so it was either that or then I was, or I was going all the way in and I was having like, uh, like a crippled loyalty. Like I would cripple myself to make sure that you're good. Which is also not good.

• 55:35Keke Palmer?

  I need to go see Gary.

• 55:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, where's Gary?

• 55:38Keke Palmer?

  Cause I be doing that too.

• 55:39Speaker 02

  You know, sort of.

• 55:40Keke Palmer?

  People pleasing thing.

• 55:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, same idea.

• 55:42Keke Palmer?

  Committed to everybody but you.

• 55:43Speaker 01

  But yourself.

• 55:44Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, damn.

• 55:45Speaker 02

  So I feel like it'll be a lifelong.

• 55:47Speaker 01

  For real.

• 55:47Speaker 02

  It'll be a lifelong thing, but, um, but I have noticed some, um, some positive changes from being able to go there. Even just in terms of like perspective and having a proper one.

• 55:55Keke Palmer?

  I just like what you said with lifelong thing, cause I think a lot of times we be thinking like, y'all are gonna fix our lives and then our life is fixed. No, it's like, it's a continuing fixing.

• 56:02Speaker 01

  Every day.

• 56:03Keke Palmer?

  You know, every day we're changing, we're growing, our mindsets are changing. I cannot tell you how many conversations I've had with my friends as we've entered our thirties as now no longer the Gen Z'ers of the world, with the millennials. You know, our time was great. We were trendy and popping. And now we've been kicked out. And Gen Z is gonna know how it fails when Gen Alpha comes after their ass, okay?

• 56:24Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 56:24Keke Palmer?

  Okay?

• 56:25Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 56:25Keke Palmer?

  Cause they ready to kick us out of everything anyway. Entering these 30s, there's so many revelations. So now we're at a whole new, whatever conversations and things we were feeling like we overcame in our 20s. It's like, you're 30 now. Have you remember this?

• 56:38Speaker 01

  No, for real. Recapping.

• 56:42Keke Palmer?

  And you're like, I thought I was healed. And it's like, there is no healed. There's continued healing. And even beyond healing, because that comes with the idea of being broken. It's really like, I always talk about this with self-esteem, because people so-and-so have low self-esteem. There really is no low self-esteem, or highest self-esteem. There's a continuing growth of esteem. Because you only can know what you know, once you've experienced it. And so having that grace with ourselves, and I think about this all the time as a, I hate to bring science into it, but as a Virgo that's always trying to be perfect, it's like, things happen, so you know not to make them happen again. And so grace is a big thing for me this season. Grace with myself, grace with what I don't know, what I'm trying to undo.

• 57:25Keke Palmer?

  And then like, embracing the unknown.

• 57:30Keke Palmer?

  You know, you guys have amazing chemistry. I see it right here.

• 57:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, we had fun on set.

• 57:35Speaker 01

  We did, we did. We had a lot of fun.

• 57:37Keke Palmer?

  But now I want to get into this pairing off-screen. So I thought we'd play a little game called Most Likely To, to see how this Aries and Gemini pairing really goes. What do you guys think?

• 57:47Speaker 02

  Okay, let's do it.

• 57:48Keke Palmer?

  So I have these paddles, and I'm gonna play along with you guys. I'm gonna give you this one. There are no, it's, when the outfits are stiff, it's, yeah.

• 57:57Speaker 01

  I can't even reach. I am, I am taped to the seat.

• 58:03Keke Palmer?

  She's like, I'm sewn in, for real. Okay, so, I'm gonna ask you guys, who's, I'm gonna ask you guys who's most likely to, blah blah blah. And you guys are gonna show me with this. And I'm gonna play along, I might be wrong, I might be right. We'll see. So, who's most likely to, and this first one is because I know that you both are former athletes. Who's most likely to win in a one-on-one pickup basketball game?

• 58:26Speaker 02

  Stop it, come on now.

• 58:27Keke Palmer?

  I am gonna say him.

• 58:29Speaker 01

  I'm gonna say him too.

• 58:30Keke Palmer?

  I know you were the head in your high school.

• 58:32Speaker 01

  I did.

• 58:33Speaker 02

  Oh, for real?

• 58:33Speaker 01

  This is a long time ago. This is a long time ago. Okay.

• 58:37Keke Palmer?

  You see them legs? Love the basketball.

• 58:39Speaker 01

  Listen, I tried to do a pickup game while my dad is always pulling me into pickup games. First of all, my dad plays basketball. He pulled me, I said, "Dad, I haven't played basketball in years." I have nails and everything.

• 58:49Speaker 02

  Started giving them work.

• 58:50Speaker 01

  Listen, I couldn't breathe. Let's talk about that.

• 58:53Keke Palmer?

  I do wanna talk about the fact that they're running and dribbling is quite impressive. It's quite impressive because the hand-eye coordination and cardio that's going on, guys.

• 59:01Speaker 01

  The cardio, I forgot about that part. I'm like, "Oh yeah, cool, let's do it." Couldn't breathe.

• 59:06Keke Palmer?

  Couldn't breathe.

• 59:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 59:07Keke Palmer?

  Okay, be the first to cry at their wedding. He gives that he's gonna tear up. Yes! You think you're gonna cry?

• 59:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, she is though. She a little sensitive too.

• 59:16Keke Palmer?

  You guys both are sensitive, but you guys don't show it too much. That's why I feel like on the wedding day, it's gonna be like...

• 59:20Speaker 02

  It's gonna go.

• 59:21Keke Palmer?

  You got y'all reading y'all vows and you on my rock.

• 59:27Keke Palmer?

  He gonna say some deep [BLEEP]. I already know. Okay. Blast the better playlist in the trailer. I feel like you got a mean playlist there.

• 59:35Speaker 02

  I feel like you got a nice one, yeah, for sure.

• 59:36Keke Palmer?

  Cause you be getting it.

• 59:37Speaker 01

  Hey.

• 59:38Keke Palmer?

  So I know, and I've been to one of your parties before.

• 59:40Speaker 01

  What flavors you want?

• 59:41Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 59:42Speaker 01

  I like all the flavors.

• 59:44Keke Palmer?

  All right, clap back the hardest if someone comes for them online. This is tough for me, cause I feel like neither one of y'all clap back.

• 59:50Speaker 02

  I had to clap back bad at somebody earlier this morning.

• 59:52Speaker 01

  That's my thing.

• 59:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, but I'm gonna say her because she got that hair. I'm gonna say her. Cause it's just that, it's that new, it's that new mother in her, you know what I'm saying? I feel like she gonna be mama bear, you know?

• 1:00:02Keke Palmer?

  If somebody say something about that baby.

• 1:00:03Speaker 02

  Somebody play around, think she gonna play.

• 1:00:04Keke Palmer?

  Somebody say my baby look like Ed Sheeran. I would've been mad, but he did a little as a newborn. It was a little bit, you know, I was like, "Hey, Ed." I got over it. Knows everyone's business before lunch. I'm only gonna say you because you the type of person that everybody would tell everything to.

• 1:00:21Speaker 01

  This is true.

• 1:00:21Keke Palmer?

  You have such a calm vibe of just like, "She ain't gonna never tell my business." She really don't care what she's hearing. It's going one without the other. So I feel like a lot of people vent to you because they know you don't, you're never gonna be like, on it like that.

• 1:00:34Speaker 01

  You know, why are you reading me? You are reading it though. Because it's not that I don't care. I just don't care to share and keep going back and forth. And I don't know a lot. So yeah, you could tell me.

• 1:00:44Keke Palmer?

  That's why I'm telling you, she know my business, period. Okay. Has the hottest DMs right now. Well, the only reason why I'm gonna say you is because I feel like Joey will kill everyone. Like, I feel like, I feel like-

• 1:00:56Speaker 01

  My DMs are like SpongeBob with Sandy.

• 1:01:00Keke Palmer?

  I know them DMs was fire, sister. Yes. But I feel like you probably have to- No, my girl. Everybody wants it.

• 1:01:11Speaker 01

  I'm so done with you.

• 1:01:12Keke Palmer?

  Here we go.

• 1:01:13Speaker 01

  I am finished.

• 1:01:14Keke Palmer?

  But I know it's hard to get the girl. What happens, actually, when you and Miracle go out?

• 1:01:18Speaker 01

  This one.

• 1:01:19Speaker 02

  Honestly, I think-

• 1:01:20Keke Palmer?

  Do they, what are they doing?

• 1:01:20Speaker 02

  Y'all capping it up too much. It's very dry, it's very boring in the DMs, I'm telling you.

• 1:01:25Keke Palmer?

  It's going down in the DMs.

• 1:01:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, I know.

• 1:01:28Keke Palmer?

  Okay, um, hide snacks on set for between takes. I'm saying you just because you was pregnant at the time.

• 1:01:34Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh.

• 1:01:36Speaker 02

  Definitely.

• 1:01:36Speaker 01

  Even when I'm not pregnant, I snack.

• 1:01:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, she just came back and had chewing on some type of candy.

• 1:01:40Keke Palmer?

  What's your favorite snack?

• 1:01:41Speaker 01

  I had a pineapple.

• 1:01:42Keke Palmer?

  Like, are you a salty or a sweet is really the question.

• 1:01:44Speaker 01

  Girl, salty and sweet. I like it all. You know, I want the chocolate, I want fruits. You know, I might want a bar.

• 1:01:50Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 1:01:51Speaker 01

  I might want a chip. Today, I might want a Dorito.

• 1:01:54Keke Palmer?

  Girl, we got some good chips and sauce in the bag. We do have snacks at Baby's.

• 1:01:56Speaker 01

  Now, wait a minute. The snacks here, the setup here is-

• 1:02:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, setup was crazy. Green room was nice, we appreciate it.

• 1:02:03Keke Palmer?

  I didn't get a good green room.

• 1:02:04Speaker 01

  I mean, yes.

• 1:02:05Keke Palmer?

  Y'all know I'm the hostess with the most. I can hear y'all, I have been crazy and hungry. Okay. Show up late but be the best dress. Every time, on every occasion. She might be like a little late, but she gonna come through and show you why you was waiting on the show.

• 1:02:20Speaker 02

  You know.

• 1:02:21Keke Palmer?

  Period. Okay, last one. Leave set with a little souvenir without asking. You look like you might klep though, or something.

• 1:02:34Keke Palmer?

  Come on, Philly.

• 1:02:35Speaker 02

  I mean.

• 1:02:35Keke Palmer?

  They was my house, too.

• 1:02:37Speaker 02

  What did Denzel say? I'm leaving with something.

• 1:02:40Keke Palmer?

  I'm leaving here with something.

• 1:02:41Speaker 02

  I'm leaving here with something.

• 1:02:42Keke Palmer?

  I'm gonna tell you right now, I always leave with something.

• 1:02:45Speaker 02

  Hello, Sam.

• 1:02:46Keke Palmer?

  Jewelry, the underwear, I already put them on.

• 1:02:48Speaker 01

  No, yeah, who's giving that back? Come on, shapewear. I got a lot of free shapewear.

• 1:02:53Keke Palmer?

  Oh, girl, my whole drawers nude.

• 1:02:54Speaker 01

  The best, yeah, nude, nude, nude, nude, and I love it.

• 1:02:59Keke Palmer?

  Guys, you're amazing. Thank you so much for coming to the show. Ruth and Boaz coming out September 26th. We're getting romance, we're getting love. Shout out to Devon Franklin and Tyler Perry. God bless you guys.

• 1:03:09Speaker 01

  Thank you, Kiki. This has been an honor.

• 1:03:11Speaker 02

  Absolutely.

• 1:03:12Speaker 01

  Congratulations on everything.

• 1:03:13Keke Palmer?

  Thank you.

• 1:03:13Speaker 01

  You are simply amazing.

• 1:03:15Speaker 02

  Continuing the rise, continuing the show. The right example, you know what I'm saying?

• 1:03:19Speaker 03

  Baby, this is, this is Kiki. Baby, this is Keke Palmer, yeah.

• 1:03:31Keke Palmer?

  Baby, This is Keke Palmer is hosted and executive produced by me, Keke Palmer. Lucas Segal is our post producer. Our producers are Lauren Hampton and Molly Nester. Hillary Esti McLaughlin is our executive producer. Production services provided by Evolution Media. Our original theme song was written and performed by me, Keke Palmer. For Team Kiki, my producer is Sharon Palmer. For Wondery, our managing producer is Olivia Fonte. Senior managing producer is Nick Ryan. And our executive producers are Emily Feldbrake, Aaron O'Flaherty, and Marshall Louie.

• 1:04:08Speaker 04

  Hi, I'm Kenya Paris.

• 1:04:10Speaker 05

  And I'm Malcolm Gladwell. We're back for season two of our Audible original podcast, The Unusual Suspects.

• 1:04:16Speaker 04

  We'll sit down with extraordinary guests from the worlds of art, film, literature, comedy, and wellness to hear from their unexpected stories of success.

• 1:04:23Speaker 05

  And who do we have this season? Well, we'll talk with Grammy winning artist Anderson Paak, athlete Rich Roll, portrait artist Amy Sherald, Oscar winning director Ron Howard, legendary writer David Sedaris, and many more. These conversations are more intimate than last season, wouldn't you say?

• 1:04:39Speaker 04

  I would. Listen to season one of The Unusual Suspects wherever you get your podcasts and sign up for a free trial Audible to listen to season two in the Audible app or by subscribing to Apple Podcasts.

• 1:04:56Speaker 06

  There are books that change how you see the world, and there are books that change how you see yourself. In a new podcast series, A Great Book with Barack Obama, President Obama sits down with a series of surprising and sharp guests to explore six books that have shaped his life and perspective on the world. From Song of Solomon and The Fire Next Time, to All the Pretty Horses and Gilead, the president is joined by guests like Tom Hanks and Ta-Nehisi Coates to reflect on how these timeless stories shaped his thinking on everything from fatherhood to leadership, and discover together what they tell us about the world we live in and the world we want to create.

• 1:05:40Speaker 06

  Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of A Great Book with Barack Obama ad-free right now, plus access each audiobook discussed in the series. Download the Audible app today.