The Big Picture
- SZA will make her acting debut in a buddy comedy movie produced by Issa Rae and starring Keke Palmer.
- The project reunites the team from the canceled series
Rap Sh!t
and may feature SZA’s singing talents. - Details of the movie, including SZA’s character and release date, are currently unknown.
It looks like world-famous singer’s SZA acting debut won’t be Kill Bill Vol 3. Today, Deadline revealed that the recording artist will flex her acting muscles for the first time with nine-time Emmy nominee Issa Rae producing. The Insecure creator and star landed a buddy comedy movie at TriStar, and details of it are yet to be revealed, as well as which character SZA is slated to play. The movie is also yet to get a release window.
What we do know at this point is that SZA will be starring alongside none other than Keke Palmer (Nope). The duo shared a scene on a Saturday Night Live sketch during an episode in which Palmer hosted and SZA served as musical guest. Apparently, SZA got bit by the acting bug, because she then decided to look for a project to star in. According to Deadline, the singer felt that the project — and the chance to work with Palmer again — was too good to pass up.
The SZA-Palmer sketch dates back to late 2022. The duo starred in an SNL digital short with the song “Big Boys.” The music video joked about “cuffing season,” a time of the year when people jump into relationships because it starts to get cold outside and no one wants to go on dates. The sketch featured Punkie Johnson, Ego Nwodim, Cecily Strong and Kenan Thompson, and also poked fun at the new and “improved” Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy).
The ‘Rap Sh!t’ Legacy Lives On With Issa Rae
For the new buddy comedy project, Issa Rae recruited a team she knows very well. Short-lived comedy series Rap Sh!t might have been canceled last year, but a reunion is going to happen with the new comedy. The former series’ showrunner Syreeta Singleton is slated to write the screenplay for the buddy comedy while series director Lawrence Lamont will helm it. It’s also likely that Rap Sh!t stars will get recruited for the cast.
It’s also safe to assume that SZA will lend her singing talents to whichever character she plays, or contribute to the project’s soundtrack. Back in 2022, the singer made a pretty bold statement of being a Quentin Tarantino fan with her music: Her hit song “Kill Bill” not only references one of the filmmaker’s most famous movies, but the music video contains numerous references to the revenge duology starring Uma Thurman as well.
Details of the Issa Rae, SZA and Keke Palmer buddy comedy are yet to be announced. Stick with Collider to find out new information as soon as it is announced.
