In their new film, Joyful Noise, Keke Palmer and Jeremy Jordan sit down with GlobalGrind and give us the inside scoop on their on and off screen relationship, how they instantly became friends when they were introduced, and how it was working with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton.
Queen Latifah & Dolly Parton Make “Joyful Noise” Together
Keke who has previously worked with Queen Latifah in the past, plays her daughter in the film and new talent Jeremy Jordan plays country superstar, Dolly Partons’ grandson. The four of them all come together on-screen to create a wonderful mix of music combining pop, rock, country, soul, and R&B in an inspirational story that all can enjoy.
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Take a look at the exclusive interview below!
Jeremy Jordan: People are like when you first met were you like instantly friends?
GlobalGrind: Were you?
Keke Palmer: Yes!
Jeremy Jordan: Because she did that to me, she’s like “Hi, I’m Keke. This is everything you need to know about me, tell me everything about you!? Lets be friends… GO!”
I love that!
Jeremy Jordan: I was like all right let’s do it!
Keke Palmer: I waste no time, I waste no time, I do it.
Yeah you have that sort of affect on people. This is not the first time you get to play opposite Queen Latifah. In the movie she plays your mother and is struggling to keep the family together using religion to protect you from the elements of the world. Tell me how it was working with her in this film.
Keke Palmer: You know this is like you said my second time working with Queen and I was so excited this time around because I’m older and I get to know her a little bit better this time. This film, my mother is very protective over me. I’m like 16, 17 ready to just kind of get out of that. I’m ready to be my own person, learning about the world and she’s trying to hold me back. Jeremy’s character Randy, he comes back into town, I knew him when I was a kid and he kind of represents everything my mother doesn’t want for me. You know he’s from that big city, he’s very spontaneous and that scares her, especially the change.
Right, aren’t you a PK?
Keke Palmer: A PK?
A preachers kid.
Keke Palmer: Yes I am in real life I am!
So was this sort of your experience growing up as well?
Keke Palmer: Not at all, my mother and my father both, I mean we were religious but they didn’t beat me over the head with it. They taught me about religion and you know things like that but they let me have my own mind and things like that.
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And it worked out! Jeremy you get to play opposite this one and also you get to play Dolly Parton’s grandson. You want to talk to me about working with these lovely ladies?
Jeremy Jordan: Well, I mean working with this lovely lady is a true gift because she is incredibly talented but she is also like the sweetest and nicest person. It’s never a dull moment with Keke, that’s for sure. She has an opinion about everything and she has a voice that will pierce through any conversation. It’s wonderful and Dolly is the sweetest, kindest woman that I have ever met. I mean I can say that without reservation. You know you hear all these wonderful things about her but your like it can’t really be true. And then you’re like it is true and then it’s even more true than you could’ve even imagined. So, it’s truly a joy to get to work with all of theses lovely ladies.
And then you guys both get to sort of take kind of Pop Culture spin on familiar songs that we know and kind of translate them into a gospel format. What was it like for you with the performing, the singing and all if that? Well done by the way!
Jeremy Jordan: It was a lot of fun. I mean you know people are always like listening to songs on the radio, making up their own words, laughing and joking. But you never think about doing that to make it towards God in a reverent sort of way. So it’s that fun, exciting sort of feel to it of changing up the words but at the same time your like oh wow I can translate this into something really powerful. So that was a lot of fun I thought.
Keke Palmer: I honestly don’t even know how we were able to get thee amazing songs. Michael Jackson, ‘Man in The Mirror’ and ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’, Paul McCartney so I was just so glad that we were able to use them in the film. And then of course I was a little bit nervous about ‘Man In The Mirror’ but I’m very happy with the outcome, how it came out. And then ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ I love, that’s one of my favorite songs of the whole soundtrack.
Are we going to hear any more music from you? We know that you’ve been singing and dancing since forever so…
Keke Palmer: Yes, I’m working on an album right now. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a single out within 4 or 5 months of this year. I’m excited, the albums like a mix between Pop and Hip-Hop, it’s right in the middle, R&B and I’m growing up. You know the first that I did was when I was 12, 13 and now I’m 18 so I’m excited for everyone to hear it.
