--- description: Find out why Keke Palmer is one of the 100 most influential people of 2026. title: Keke Palmer: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70462991591d6d51/69d7cf58f1020114ad3deadd/T100-2026-Web-Keke-Palmer.JPG?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 15, 2026 # Keke Palmer by Brian Grazer  Jason Kim—Trunk Archive Keke Palmer is the kind of talent you spend a career hoping to find. Every so often, someone arrives with that rare combination—instinct, intelligence, presence—and it stops you. That is Keke Palmer. When I asked Keke to star in [_The ’Burbs_](https://time.com/7366370/burbs-review-peacock/ "undefined")_,_ I gave her almost nothing, only a loose idea of the role. Most actors need more, but [not Keke](https://time.com/7274659/one-of-them-days-netflix-watch/ "undefined"). She caught it in the air and immediately built something vivid, large, and alive. She found the heartbeat. Then she deepened it, shaped it, and made it more human. Audiences connect to her depth, heart, and authenticity. After shooting only two episodes with her we knew we wanted her to bring those same qualities—and impeccable sense of comedy—to our next project, _Spaceballs 2._ Keke doesn’t wait to be told, she decides. She doesn’t just reflect the moment, she creates it. We are just lucky to be watching. _Grazer is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning producer_ Keke Palmer Is on the 2026 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/keke-palmer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/keke-palmer/"},"headline":"Keke Palmer","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:51.105Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/keke-palmer/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70462991591d6d51/69d7cf58f1020114ad3deadd/T100-2026-Web-Keke-Palmer.JPG?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Brian Grazer"}],"creator":"Brian Grazer","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70462991591d6d51/69d7cf58f1020114ad3deadd/T100-2026-Web-Keke-Palmer.JPG?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/keke-palmer/","name":"Keke Palmer"}}]}] ```