Celebrity News January 16, 2025
Why SZA Feels Like She Wasn’t Meant to Be Famous: ‘It’s So Weird’ (Exclusive)

SZA, Keke Palmer, and Issa Rae are dishing on their new buddy comedy “One of Them Days.”
“Extra’s” Melvin Robert sat down with the ladies to talk about the Issa-produced movie, in which SZA and Keke play best friends and roommates who find themselves going to extremes to avoid eviction after SZA’s character’s boyfriend blows their rent money.
SZA is most known for her iconic musical hits, but now she’s making her way into acting.
While she has some anxieties about fame, SZA was excited to be part of “One of Them Days.” Praising Issa and Keke, she emphasized, “It makes you want to be a part of something and take a risk because you feel insulated by beautiful energy.”
SZA also explained comments she has made about feeling like she wasn’t meant to be famous.
She said, “You see how, like, some people are very well acclimated in being perceived and also have a different mechanism to approach that, so Keke has, like, this crazy network of mechanism, where it’s like everything just kind of like flows even when the cameras are on.”
SZA continued, “For me, it’s a little harder to like be so comfortable when I don’t really know what is happening… I didn’t grow up famous. I grew up, you know, just in the ’burbs, went to regular school, went to regular college, did regular odd jobs until, you know, everything popped off. So now, I’ve never been examined in this way where’s it’s like binoculars."
She added, "It's sometimes, I guess, just a comfortability with, like, letting my shoulders down and knowing that I'm not in danger just because I'm being perceived by people that I don't know."
“[Fame] is so weird and people be actin' like it’s normal,” SZA stressed. “They be like, ‘That’s what you signed up for,’ and I’m just like, ‘I didn’t even know what I was signing up for, actually.’ I just made a couple songs and I was grateful that they were liked and then I kept going. Even with this movie, I literally just signed onto the movie, not thinking about that eventually there'd be a press junket, eventually you're gonna have to be seen on camera."
Keke and SZA hit it off immediately after first meeting at “SNL.” Keke recalled, “We felt a little vibe there.”
The ladies also opened up about how they all cope when they’re having “one of them days" and having those ride-or-die friendships.
SZA said, "I highly recommend screaming... into a pillow or just whenever."
Issa admitted, “I tried that and I just felt stupid after... I did it. It got a little bit out."
Keke chimed in, “I’m scared it will hurt my vocal cords." She noted, "But I definitely like watching movies and TV, like, I like watching shows and stuff that make me feel like I’m reflecting my life back. And I’m also one of them really, really positive people, so I’m like, ‘There’s a brighter side, there must be!' You know, I'm like, 'Life is worth living and gratitude,' because somebody else has it worse."
According to Keke, the movie is about “unconditional love” between friends. She said, “That friendship is the point of what gets you through hard times. I do hope when people watch this movie and come together, you know, we all laugh in the theater together because we get what's going on in the movie. We all have that friend or that person that we can lean on, and that’s really to me how you get through hard times is your community.”
As for why SZA and Keke were perfect for the roles, Issa noted, “I could watch them all day… They’re so raw in themselves… It’s endearing to watch, and you want to be in the room with them.”
“One of Them Days” is in theaters January 17.