Nope is the latest big screen adventure from newfound horror icon Jordan Peele, who has already wowed audiences with Get Out and Us. Out in theaters on July 22, Peele’s latest offering is more comedic than the previous two entries, despite not losing its horror edge. It’s also even more meta: not only is it an exploration of science fiction in Hollywood, but an ode to the art of filmmaking itself.
Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya (who previously partnered with Peele on Get Out) star in Nope as a pair of siblings, Emerald and OJ, who struggle to keep the ranch afloat after a freak accident takes the family patriarch out of commission. The film also stars Brandon Perea, Steven Yeun, and Michael Wilcott in fun supporting roles.
Screen Rant spoke to Kaluuya and Palmer about the smartest Nope theories they’ve heard, the film sets they’d like to visit, and whether they would help a ghostly child in a white dress.
Screen Rant: We’re at Jupiter’s Claim. Did you guys actually film here?
Keke Palmer: No.
Daniel Kaluuya: We did film here. We didn’t film this set here, but we filmed here a lot. And then we filmed this set somewhere else.
If I go on the studio tour, I can see where you guys filmed?
Daniel Kaluuya: Yeah, you can. Stage 26.
Keke Palmer: Yeah, it’s one of the studio stages.
This is a movie people have already been theorizing about and dissecting the trailers. Do you have a favorite theory that you’ve read so far or heard about Nope?
Daniel Kaluuya: I like the “not of planet Earth.” That’s pretty smart. I like that one.
Keke Palmer: I think in terms of theories, that’s the one. Because the other ones, they’re in other movies. They’re new movies themselves.
Daniel Kaluuya: I remember you said that. There were really interesting ideas. That’s a good pitch.
There’s a lot of film sets that are mentioned in this movie. If you could go to any film set in history, which one would you go to?
Daniel Kaluuya: Friday.
Keke Palmer: It’s a cross between Twister and Mystic River.
Daniel Kaluuya: Can I say that? Sister Act 2.
Keke Palmer: Our movies are so different. And you know what, I don’t think I mean Mystic River. What’s the one when they was all in the store and there was beasts outside?
You’re talking about The Mist?
Keke Palmer: The Mist! Girl, I would’ve loved to been in that movie. You ain’t never seen it?
Daniel Kaluuya: No.
Keke Palmer: Oh, my gosh. It’s a movie about the mist, and these people get trapped in the store, and all this crazy stuff happens. Monsters and goblins come and get them. It’s good, though. The acting is superb.
I just had a flashback to you on Steve Harvey being like, “You’ve never seen Titanic?”
Keke Palmer: Also a great movie. Painful to revisit.
Why would you go to Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit? I love that movie.
Keke Palmer: It’s the best sequel that have ever been sequeled.
Daniel Kaluuya: “You down with G-O-D? Yeah, you know me.” Imagine being on that set! You’ve got City High at the beginning. You’ve got Lauryn Hill. You’ve got Whoopi Goldberg.
Keke Palmer: You’ve got the boy singing all high from City High.
Daniel Kaluuya: You do the challenge. Of course, that would be fun. That would just be fun vibes. I’d be like, “I’m happy I’m here.” And I could tell everyone, “I was there when they were filming.” And it’s like, “Well, I was on the set.”
Daniel, tell me about your paranormal experience. Aliens, ghosts, weird things.
Daniel Kaluuya: Loads of weird things have happened in my life. Loads of weird thing happened. I think things move. When I was kid, things would move by themselves.
Keke Palmer: A little Toy Story?
Daniel Kaluuya: Maybe Toy Story was it. I watched it, and then I wanted the toys to move.
Lightyear callback. You would have Jedi skills or something?
Daniel Kaluuya: Jedi skills? I don’t think it was me, I’ll tell you that. Something moved something.
We’re going to play a little game called Yep or Nope. I’m going to say it, and you say yep or nope, whether or not you’d do it. Sleep overnight in a haunted house?
Daniel Kaluuya: Nope.
Keke Palmer: Nope.
A girl in a little white gown comes up to you and asks for help.
Keke Palmer: Okay. Yep, as long as she’s real, and I can’t see through her or something like that.
You’re getting bad vibes, though.
Keke Palmer: I’m getting bad vibes?
Daniel Kaluuya: I would find out where her parents are, and then I would drop them off.
Keke Palmer: Sometimes these kids today, you can’t trust. I’m going with nope.
She’s dressed like a Victorian child.
Keke Palmer: A Victorian child? Okay, it sounds like a setup.
Daniel Kaluuya: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I’d still check if they’re all right, though.
Watching Nope alone in the dark.
Daniel Kaluuya: Yeah. I’d watch it in the dark.
Keke Palmer: Yeah. I’d watch it in the dark.
But in a theater first.
Nope Synopsis
Caretakers at a California horse ranch encounter a mysterious force that affects human and animal behavior.
Check out our other interview with Nope star Brandon Perea, and our previous interviews with Keke Palmer for Lightyear and with Daniel Kaluuya for Black Panther.
Key Release Dates
Nope
Release Date:2022-07-22
