The 'Nope' star reflected on her pregnancy journey for this year's coveted cover of 'Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue.
Despite the fact that she's growing an entirely new human, Keke Palmer says she's feeling the same during her pregnancy. "Pregnancy is a road. I remember my doctor saying, 'Pregnancy isn't a disease. It's a natural thing! You don't have to feel like you're walking on eggshells.' I honestly feel like the same old me," the Nope star tells Vanity Fair for this year’s Hollywood Issue.
"I really expected something so dramatic. But I'm just pregnant," she jokes. "I have something that's moving around in there every now and then. That part is creepy sometimes."
Palmer is expecting her first child with her boyfriend, Darius Daulton Jackson, which she revealed by debuting her baby bump on Saturday Night Live in December. The 28-year-old film and TV star shared that the pregnancy has been an "incredibly fun ride" for both first-time parents.
"I've had unbelievable support," she explains. "I have a very lonely career, and also a very overwhelming career. To do SNL, for instance, is extremely amazing, but also tough for a multitude of reasons -- what it means in terms of your career, how grueling the schedule is. You have to get really focused and the people around you have to be prepared for whatever it does to you. I felt the support of my partner during that in a way that's not anything I have had before."
"Ever since I met him, [he's shown] a selflessness. Making sure that I'm not alone, making sure I have support," she adds. "I think that's all you can ask from anyone. And I've only ever really had that kind of support from my family--and it's funny, because now we are family."
And, of course, Palmer has received plenty of love and support from her fans on social platforms -- particularly Twitter. The internet has declared themselves virtual aunts and uncles for the actress' unborn son, which she finds "so sweet."
"That gives me life. It's so sweet because I've been performing for so many years, so for people to feel that way? It's huge," she tells the outlet. "It gave me so much joy to see them celebrating with me."
Palmer was joined by Selena Gomez, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Ana de Armas, Jonathan Majors, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Julia Garner, Regé-Jean Page, Emma Corrin, HoYeon Jung and Jeremy Allen Whitebring for this year’s issue — which was photographed by Steven Klein and styled by Patti Wilson.
The theme for this year’s Hollywood Issue is the after, after-party. To make this massive production happen, the 12 stars met at Milk Studios in Los Angeles over the course of three days, with 300 pairs of shoes at their disposal, 112 dresses, 36 racks of clothes, and 10 armed jewelry guards.
"It's always an incredibly hard challenge to decide who's going to be there, but it was really important to Vanity Fair to pick 12 people who had never been on the Hollywood cover before," Britt Hennemuth, Vanity Fair's Senior West Coast editor, told ET. "We really wanted to highlight some new and exciting faces and it's always about the right mix, right? The people you love, the people you know, people who have been in the business for a long time and have always deserved to be there, and some of the young stars that have really popped in the last couple of months and taken the zeitgeist by storm."
Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue hits newsstands on Feb. 28.
Meanwhile, Palmer and Jackson recently took to their respective Instagram accounts to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The latter shared a carousel of photos featuring the couple with a simple caption reading, "Happy Valentine’s Day, mom."
Palmer shared a compilation of similar images and videos, including a clip of Jackson speaking to her baby bump. "♒️ + ♍️ = ❤️ Happy Vday Kiddos! Everyday is love day because I love all of you too. Thank you for all the kindness."
For more on Palmer's pregnancy, check out the video below.
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