Keke Palmer’s 8 best roles: A look at a career that refuses to be boxed in

Keke Palmer’s One of Them Days and seven other roles defined a career that made its own path.

Some actors follow a script. Keke Palmer rewrites the whole story. She’s not just talented—she’s strategic, shape-shifting, and one step ahead of wherever the industry tries to put her. With each new role, she’s built a resume that’s less about stardom and more about staying power. So with One of Them Days out in the streaming world, it feels like the right time to take stock—not just of what she’s done, but what it says about where she’s headed and what she’s already changed.

1. Akeelah Anderson in Akeelah and the Bee

This is where most people met her. As Akeelah, Palmer delivered a performance that was far more than precocious—she felt grounded and real. The story could’ve leaned into feel-good fluff, but she brought actual weight to it. Akeelah wasn’t just about spelling words—it was about fighting for space in a world that didn’t expect her to win. And Palmer, barely a teenager, handled that pressure with the nuance most adult actors spend years trying to master.

2. True Jackson in True Jackson, VP

This was a big swing for Nickelodeon—and a bigger one for Keke. Playing a teen CEO in a high-rise fashion office? It could’ve gone corny real fast. But Palmer made it work by leaning into the absurdity with just enough heart. She made True Jackson likable without making her unbelievable, and in doing so, she gave a generation of Black girls a new kind of protagonist: one who wasn’t chasing approval, but calling the shots.

3. Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas in CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story

Portraying a real person always comes with pressure, but stepping into the role of Chilli—one-third of a group that helped define ‘90s culture—is its own beast. Truly one of Keke Palmer’s best roles, she didn’t just mimic the look or the voice. She found something under it. Her version of Chilli wasn’t sanitized for nostalgia; it showed the conflict, the ambition, the edge. She understood that honoring someone isn’t about softening their story—it’s about telling it honestly.

4. Zayday Williams in Scream Queens

You don’t usually get to play clever, funny, and unbothered in a slasher comedy—and you especially don’t get to be Black and survive the plot. But Keke did all of it as Zayday. The show itself was hit-or-miss, but Palmer was a highlight throughout, giving the genre a character who wasn’t there just to react or be sacrificed. Zayday didn’t just survive. She thrived, and that matters in a space that so rarely makes room for characters like her.

5. Wednesday in Pimp

This one didn’t have the media machine behind it, but it might be one of Palmer’s most important performances. As Wednesday, she disappears into a world that’s harsh, bleak, and all too familiar for many—but she never lets the character fall into stereotype. She plays her with pain, yes, but also resilience. There’s no glamor here. No neat redemption arc. Just survival, love, and the gray area in between. It’s the kind of role that most actors avoid and most critics overlook. Keke leaned into it.

6. Emerald “Em” Haywood in Nope

When Jordan Peele gave Palmer the stage, she ran with it. Em Haywood might be the most complete, unpredictable, and layered character she’s played, and perhaps the fan fav for Keke Palmer’s best roles. She’s a hustler. A little reckless. Incredibly charming. And underneath all that, someone clinging to a dream that may or may not still be hers. In less capable hands, she’d be comic relief. With Palmer, she became the heartbeat of the film. You couldn’t take your eyes off her—and not just because she was funny. She felt true.

7. Host of Password

You don’t usually see a game show host on a list like this, but Palmer isn’t most people. What she does with Password isn’t just about presence—it’s about control. She walks into a format that’s older than she is and makes it feel like it was invented for her. Her energy isn’t performative; it’s connective. She knows how to read the room, flip the tempo, and keep the whole thing in motion without forcing it. You either have that skill or you don’t.

8. One of Them Days

This project feels like not only one of Keke Palmer’s best roles but a reckoning, too. It’s Keke being Keke, but also telling you how many different things that actually means. She’s not chasing approval or relevance. She’s saying, “I’m still here—and not in spite of the pivots, but because of them.” One of Them Days is a reminder that talent alone isn’t enough. You also need clarity. And after all these years, she’s never sounded more clear.

Final Word

There’s a reason people root for Keke Palmer. It’s not just the talent—which is undeniable—or the charisma, which comes through even in still photos. It’s the way she’s navigated an industry that hasn’t always known what to do with her. She hasn’t just survived Hollywood. She’s rewritten the rules for how you’re allowed to show up in it. Not quiet. Not safe. Not simplified. And the most exciting part? She’s still just getting started.