“The Burbs” actress recalled the pressures of being a Nickelodeon star in a new interview.

Keke Palmer says being a child star felt ‘dehumanizing’: ‘You’re a product’

"The Burbs" actress recalled the pressures of being a Nickelodeon star in a new interview.

By Kathleen Perricone

March 4, 2026 5:06 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Keke Palmer's latest project is 'The Burbs,' Peacock's adaptation of the 1989 Tom Hanks film. Credit:

Todd Williamson/Peacock via Getty

With more than 100 acting credits and two decades in the business, Keke Palmer is a Hollywood vet at only 32. But in a new interview with *Variety*, she admits all that glitters is not gold in Tinseltown, especially for child stars.

*The Burbs* star was 11 when she made her debut in 2004’s *Barbershop 2* (as the niece of Queen Latifah’s character, no less), and within a year she had already scored her own Nickelodeon show, *Keke and Jamal* (opposite Andre Jamal Kinney). Although it didn’t progress beyond a pilot, the network knew it had a golden goose in Palmer and cast her as the titular fashionista in *True Jackson, VP*. The teen sitcom broke network records when it premiered in 2008 with 4.8 million viewers, and its popularity inspired a Walmart clothing line.

Keke Palmer starred in 'True Jackson, VP' for three seasons on Nickelodeon.

Michael Yarish/Nickelodeon

“Being a kid entertainer on networks such as Disney and Nickelodeon, there’s no machinery more dehumanizing than that, and I say ‘dehumanizing’ completely without sadness,” Palmer explained to *Variety*. “It’s just — you’re a product.”

Demi Lovato and Keke Palmer reflect on dating adult men as teenagers: 'Why was my boyfriend 30?'

Keke Palmer looks picture perfect in EW's 'The Burbs' cover shoot — see the exclusive pics

One of the highest-paid child actors at the time, the teen earned $20,000-per-episode, making her the breadwinner of the family, supporting her parents (and former actors) Larry and Sharon and older sister Loreal. And once entrenched in Hollywood, the prospect of returning to life in her hometown of Harvey, Ill. — with a population of less than 20,000 — seemed less appealing.

“Once you see the difference between poverty and not poverty, you’re not going to go back. Even if you’re tired,” Palmer admitted. “And once you know you have the capacity, you just keep on taking on s--t.”

Keke Palmer's breakthrough role was a spelling bee champion in 'Akeelah and the Bee' in 2008.

Saeed Adyani/Lionsgate

In fact, it wasn’t until she gave birth to son Leo in 2023 that she finally took a break from the Hollywood grind.

“And I realized in the last couple of years what that meant and what it cost me,” she continued.

Becoming a mother was healing in more ways than one. She now thinks about the future differently, but also the past.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

“You start seeing how you’re loving the baby, and then you’re like, ‘I’m not loving myself right,’” Palmer told *Variety*. “Because the way that this baby is being loved, and the way I see the baby responding to that love, suddenly I realize not just what I lacked, but what I’m responsible to give myself.... I’m not a baby, so I can’t go back to Sharon and Larry and say, ‘Why didn’t you — ?’ That would be childish as hell. So I have to now say, ‘Well, whatever it was that I needed and didn’t get that I have the capacity to offer my son, I’m responsible to do it for me too.’”

- Celebrities & Creators

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Celebrities”