Keke Palmer says teen years were ‘darkest’ period of her life, recalls being ‘traumatised by fame’

WASHINGTON: Actor, singer and television host Keke Palmer has opened up about the emotional struggles she faced as a child star, describing her teenage years as the “darkest” period of her life and revealing how fame deeply affected both her and her family, according to People.

Palmer, 32, reflected on her experiences during a conversation with actor and television personality Whoopi Goldberg at the Tribeca Festival’s Storytellers series.

Speaking about the most difficult phase of her life, Palmer said her struggles began during her teenage years, when she felt isolated despite having a supportive family. “I remember it was just nobody could relate to me, and the thing about my family is my family has always been so awesome,” Palmer said.

She explained that fame had a profound impact on her entire family. “But there was a period where we were all being traumatized by fame, and they had a more relatable experience to the trauma of the fame than I did, right?… because I was the star. They were the people in the star shadow,” she said, according to People.

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According to Palmer, while her family members could understand one another’s experiences, she often felt alone in dealing with the pressures that came with being the public face of the family’s success.

“I just was so sad, you guys. I really was so sad, you know,” she said. “I was so sad that I wished I could feel the pain of it because it was not physical. It was so deep in my soul and in my heart that I felt numb or something like that because it was like no way to get it out of me,” according to People.

Palmer began her acting career as a child, appearing as Queen Latifah’s niece in the film Barbershop 2: Back in Business. She later rose to prominence with her performances in Akeelah and the Bee and Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP, which aired from 2008 to 2011.

Recalling one particularly difficult moment from her youth, Palmer said she retreated to a corner of her room and came to a painful realization about how others perceived her. “I just decided that nobody really wants to get to know me and the more that I try to get people to know the real me, the more that they just talk to this character, the more that they just want me to be happy and smiling,” she said.

Palmer added that expressing emotions other than happiness often drew negative reactions. “If I show any complexity of my emotions, or I show that I’m a kid, I show that I’m sad, I show that I’m down, I show that I’m tired, that I’m exhausted from these things, they just get mad at me, and I don’t want my family to lose everything,” she said, according to People.

The actor said that moment marked the creation of the public persona known as “Keke Palmer,” which she used to shield her vulnerable inner self. “That was the day that Keke Palmer was truly born,” Palmer said, adding that she made a promise to protect the more sensitive side of herself.

“And inside I just knew like that sensitive character, that person that gets tired, that gets, you know, down, that feels low, that nobody wants to hear it, so you keep it to yourself,” she said.

“It was kind of like you don’t deserve type of vibe, you know what I mean? Because I felt that was the only way to protect myself. That was the lowest, and it went so far that I forgot that I did it. I forgot that I locked that key up,” Palmer added, according to People. (ANI)