Nope stars Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya on horror clichés and YouTube theories

How many times have you watched a horror film, watched in amazement at the protagonists as they innocently fell into the obvious death trap and thought: “Well, I would have been gone long ago”? nope, the latest stroke of genius from Get Out director Jordan Peele, provides the images to this feeling. And shows a completely new way to deal with an extraterrestrial threat.

Siblings OJ and Emerald Haywood come from a family that trained stunt horses for Hollywood films for decades. Business is already bad anyway, when suddenly a strange being appears that seems to be sucking in the animals. The siblings decide to see the threat as an opportunity and come up with a crazy plan.

Nope, one breathtaking mix of mystery thriller and horror comedy, will be available in German cinemas from August 11, 2022. We spoke to leading actors Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer about annoying horror clichés, the importance of films like Black Panther and real aliens.

In reality, the stars from Nope would never hunt aliens

Moviepilot: What are typical horror film situations where you would personally think: “Nope, I’m out of there”?

Keke Palmer: Every time something happens and someone says, “I’ll see what’s going on.” Absolutely no way. Why would you do this? I would never really do that. I would immediately lock my door and never leave the room again. Exactly the same with Nope. If someone had actually told me that they saw something strange outside, I would have said, “That sounds crazy. Just let me know if you see it again.” And that would have been it for me. Then I would have gone to bed.

Daniel Kaluuya: I always think to myself: What are you doing?! I sometimes have the feeling that the motivation for doing this is not sufficiently explained in the films themselves either. And that’s kind of part of the genre, of course, but it can also be frustrating. For example, my character in Nope is concerned with preserving his family’s legacy. That’s why OJ can’t run away. I personally would have grabbed the trailer and the horses and would have looked for a new piece of land. In Albuquerque or something.

There’s a scene in the movie where a character shares her conspiracy theory about aliens supposedly watching us all. Have you personally ever been at a point where you asked yourself: Do aliens really exist and if so, what do they want?

Keke Palmer: I still believe aliens are real. But I still remember my teenage years, how I felt totally lost in the topic on youtube and thought I just found out some really important stuff here. But at some point I got to the point where I said to myself: Yes, maybe they are real, but it doesn’t really matter. I mean what am I supposed to do with this knowledge now?

Daniel Kaluuya: I was always certain that aliens existed. I never really questioned that. It’s obvious there’s other life out there, it’s just different than us. We call them aliens, but they’re just a different kind of life form. That always made sense to me. I just don’t think they have any interest in us. We’re very egocentric. Why should they come to us on earth?

Is Jordan Peele to horror what Black Panther is to superhero movies?

Daniel, because you were shooting Nope, you had to cancel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Did you see the trailer?

Daniel Kaluuya: I love him. He looks amazing. But I knew that beforehand, this is Ryan Coogler we’re talking about. He doesn’t do things by halves and this movie just means a lot. I always knew he was going to be amazing and I can’t wait to see him.

As the first black superhero film, Black Panther had an incredible impact on pop culture and society. Do you think Jordan Peele has a similar meaning when it comes to horror?

Daniel Kaluuya: I think there have been a lot of films in recent years that have changed a lot in that direction. Straight Outta Compton was definitely one, Moonlight, Get Out… I think Jordan revived a genrewhich lacked innovative ideas.

Keke Palmer: What’s so incredible about Jordan is that he creates all of this with original ideas that aren’t based on anything that came before. And the whole is not only artistically demanding, but also commercial and also entertaining someone who might not get every insinuation. Being number one on the box office with an original screenplay isn’t easy. Especially at this time, post Covid and considering what is happening in the world right now.

Better David Lynch than Logan Paul: Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer on criticism on the internet

The YouTuber Logan Paul wrote a thread on Twitter about how little he liked Nope and it more or less went viral. Do you deal with criticism on social media or do you try not to deal with it?

Keke Palmer: It was so close to what the film is actually poking fun at that at first I thought he was doing it on purpose. Because of: Is this part of the marketing campaign for the film? Of course we hear criticism, but that’s normal when you make films. What I find more interesting are the theories and explanations that people come up with for a film. I then dig through Reddit or read articles like “Nope Explained”. I often read things there that I didn’t even notice myself.

See Yve’s review of Nope here:

Daniel Kaluuya: I like watching reviews on YouTube because it gives me a sense of who these people are and how they form their opinions. I want people to have a good time when they go to the movies. I also find press conferences really interesting because you sit across from people who give you their opinion. but as for Logan Paul, I have no idea why what he has to say about movies matters. Why is his opinion more important than other people’s? Better let’s find out what David Lynch has to say, or Leonardo DiCaprio. This is a YouTuber! And I don’t mean that disrespectfully.

Keke Palmer: He doesn’t even do movie reviews or anything.

Daniel Kaluuya: Yes! He’s just known and says: “And by the way, this is my opinion!” That reminds me of this joke by Dave Chappelle, because of: “Let’s see what Ja Rule has to say about it !” I love Ja Rule, I don’t mean to offend him. But that’s how it feels to me when people forward Logan Paul’s tweets to me.

I absolutely understand what you mean. But he’s a good example of people who voice their opinions on social media and have such a wide reach that it’s hard to escape.

Daniel Kaluuya: He also has every right to express his opinion. I just find it odd that as a society we’re like, ‘This guy said something and we need to deal with it. Why do we even care what he does? He is not qualified to be placed above others with his opinion. But at least I’m glad he saw the film.

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What do you think of Jordan Peele’s Nope?