We all know that Keke Palmer is a true multi-hyphenate — from acting, singing, hosting, producing and more. After multiple successful hosting stints, she’s back in her hosting bag for the new Disney+ culinary competition series, Foodtastic.
However, Foodtastic is absolutely not like any competition series involving food that you’ve seen or heard of before.
Disney+ describes the series as ‘an immersive global competition series in which highly skilled artists create extravagant scene work and larger-than-life sculptures made entirely out of food. From vegetables and butter to fruit and cheese, these everyday items are transformed into works of art.”
Not only that, but each episode is based upon iconic Disney IP and all of the projects are rooted in that. With Palmer as host, FLOUR SHOP founder Amirah Kassem and NYC’s City Cakes founder chef Benny Rivera are the food experts on the series.
Palmer recently spoke to Shadow and Act about the series, hosting, being back at Disney and how she is manifestation goals.
Speaking about the biggest difference between Foodtastc and other shows, Palmer says that it is all about the art.
“I think the main thing is that they are truly using food as art,” she told us. “It’s not about tasting. They’re putting together produce…I’m talking about carrots on top of cakes not cooked [laughs]. The way that they are using food is definitely in a way that we’ve never seen before. And I was very shocked myself when I became a part of the show and started to see what was really going down. They’re going to be able to create houses…they’re carving ice. There’s no tasting, because I was actually excited for the tasting part, and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, no tasting?’ They’re actually positioning food in a way that we’ve never seen as it pertains to art. It really became an art form to me, more than it ever had before.
Palmer is also back hosting after her recent stint on 'GMA3: Sara, Strahan and Keke'
“I really do love it…I really do enjoy it,” she said of hosting. I got that with GMA3. It’s also Disney [and] in the Disney family. And so then for them to come around and give me this opportunity with Foodtastic, it just feels so awesome, because I started my career with them at 10 years old when I came out to California from Illinois. So just for me to continue to have my own personal evolution, for it to be supported by the companies that I’ve worked with all these years, it really feels awesome. I love acting, but I do love being able to be myself and have fun. And I’ve always loved people and talking to people…they’re my biggest inspiration for acting as well. So one thing feeds the other.”
She also talked about how she remained on course and didn’t fall to the dreaded child actor-to-adult actor pipeline curse.
“I think it’s a personal choice,” she said. “A lot of child actors take time off, and then all of a sudden you see them as an adult, like Shia LaBeouf did, where it’s like he’s gone for a couple of years and then came back with a vengeance. Sometimes we just decide not to continue. But I think the reality is when you do something as a kid, you evolve and you grow from that. And sometimes it continues to grow in that direction, and other times it doesn’t. Just like everybody. When you’re a kid you might have loved soccer, and then you decide I don’t think I love soccer anymore. For me, I decided at 17 or 18, after my Nickelodeon show, that I still loved entertainment and I wanted to continue to grow as an entertainer, and find my new voice as it pertained to the kind of art that I wanted to create. And that was just my past my path, and I think I’ve been rewarded in a lot of areas as it pertains to work, with that.”
Palmer manifested herself onto the final season of 'Insecure,' and has possibly done the same for 'Sister Act 3.'
“The way that I come off with it is very lighthearted, and it’s very like, ‘Oh, boom.’ I just ask and it just happened. But I really do feel for all of us artists, as it pertains to manifestation, you have to put in the work. Any job, in any career, in any field, that can actually allow your manifestation to come true.”
However, as Palmer notes, manifesting is more than just stating out loud.
“Manifesting isn’t just I want it,” she explained. “Manifestation is the action. It’s the action that you already having [something]. It’s me saying, ‘I’m a host already.’ It’s me hosting on my own Instagram page. Or it’s me actively producing my own stuff, and then getting the big opportunity as a producer. It’s you doing the small things that may not seem valid in your eyes, but they are a step in the direction of what you ultimately want to do, that then manifests the major outcome. It’s the sewing of the small seeds and believing in yourself when nobody else is that actually makes those manifestations come through. At the end of the day, it is also a responsibility to ourselves to make those things happen.”
Foodtastic is streaming now on Disney+.
Watch the full interview below:
