During the July 23 episode of Keke Palmer’s Baby, This is Keke Palmer podcast, the 30-year-old actress directly expressed her gratitude to her guest, filmmaker Tyler Perry, who helped her during a tough time.
Palmer began her career as child actress, and Madea’s Family Reunion was a great experience for her—in more ways than one.
“I thank you so much for this,” she said. “Whatever the movie
did, you gave me extra money in the backend, and that’s big. I really wanted to point that out because that’s not something that people are always doing, and that was very early on in my career. I was no big name or anything like that. It was not necessarily something that was my birthright, but for that to happen in that movie and for it to have been such a success — that extra money, what it did for my family and how it allowed me to maintain my time in California, moving from Chicago.“I mean, we had nothing, and for you to do that was just really amazing, so I just wanted to mention that ‘cause I never forgot that.”
In 2006, Madea’s Family Reunion topped the box office during its debut weekend, raking in approximately $30.25 million
, according to The Associated Press. Palmer played the role of Nikki, a rebellious runaway Madea’s character is court-ordered to look after. Box Office Mojo reported that the film grossed over $63 million. The comedy/drama had a $6 million budget.Money is no object for Palmer these days. The multimedia talent just started producing some of her own projects. She has launched her own digital television network, KeyTV. Just like Perry, she stars in and produces content for her viewers. In a poignant moment, Palmer is now signing the checks and supporting upcoming actors and singers in the industry.