Hey, what's up? It's Gustavo Ariano, and you're listening to The Times, Essential News,

from the LA Times. It's Friday, December 9, 2022. Today, we're sharing an interview with a hilarious

and talented Kiki Palmer, fresh off hosting Saturday Night Live and starring in the Jordan

field movie, Nope.

She sat down with the Envelope podcast who discussed her impressive career and what she hopes to accomplish next.

I'll let my colleagues Mark Olson and Ivan Villarreal take it from here.

Today's guest is someone who's already had quite an impressive multifaceted career at the age of just 29.

She's an actress, singer, TV host, meme queen.

And I'm talking, of course, about Kiki Palmer.

Did I miss anything, Avon?

Yes, Mark.

Actually, you did. Because this month, she just joined the hosting club of Saturday Night Live, where, by the way,

she revealed she's pregnant.

So in short, we're slacking Mark a lot. But yes, it's such an exciting time to talk with Kiki.

You know, this summer she really wowed critics and audiences with her performance in Jordan Peel's

nope, really showing off her comedy and drama muscles.

In the film she plays Emerald Haywood, the exuberant sister of Daniel Kaluya's more serious

character, OJ. The two siblings discover this curious and threatening presence in the sky and set

out to capture it on camera. It's this social thriller

that tackles many poignant themes like race, exploitation and art, and capitalism. Jordan

actually wrote Emerald specifically for Kiki, and some have already called it her best

performance yet. It's quite the peak to an already storied career,

...