Keke Palmer is on an undeniable 20-year roll.

The 28-year-old multi-hyphenate stars in Jordan Peeles new sci-fi thriller Nope as the colorful and comedic Emerald Haywood. In the film, Emerald and her brother OJ, played by Daniel Kaluuya, are left with the task of sustaining their family business of training horses for Hollywood productions after the random, violent death of their father on the ranch.

Were first introduced to Emerald with a monologue explaining her familys history in showbiz, including a little-known lesson in the first person captured on motion picture, a Black man named Gilbert Domm. From jump, the energy Palmer brings to her character adds a level of humor, depth and resilience that makes it hard not to love every moment shes on-screen.

Shes made up of so many different archetypes from the jester to the orphan, the Robbins, Illinois, native said of Emerald. She was written so skillfully, so I think for me, I wanted to make sure her transition from the beginning of the film to how her characters impacted towards the end, I wanted to make sure that was seamless.

Nope is already getting thrown into award conversations. And of course, like Peeles last social thriller Us, audiences have a range of theories about what the alien monster in the film represents. Palmer gave her thoughts on what she believes the message behind the film to be, noting that its more about how our gaze may objectify certain people, things or events.

When I think about the UFO or the spectacle object that we are getting to know in the film, I think its less about its agenda and more how its responding to ours, she said. I think thats really what the movie is, is an exploration of how what we antagonize or how we approach spectacle or things, whether they be miracles or bad miracles, the response that we had that then exacerbates the situation.