Keke Palmer Reveals Whether She Watched Tom Hanks’ “The ‘Burbs” Before Starring in New Series (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Keke Palmer is starring in The ‘Burbs, a new Peacock series adapted from the 1989 film of the same name starring Tom Hanks

• In a new interview, Palmer reveals whether she ever watched the original version before joining the show

• She also opens up about which qualities from Hanks’ work she tried to “capture” in The Burbs

Keke Palmer is putting her own spin on The ‘Burbs while taking some inspiration Tom Hanks.

The Emmy winner, 32, stars and executive produces Peacock’s new dark comedy series, based on the ’89 film of the same name. In an interview with PEOPLE, Palmer admits she wasn’t initially “familiar” with the film version (starring Hanks).

“I was not familiar with that film in particular, no, but obviously became very familiar after the show,” she tells PEOPLE.

“I’m somebody that looked up to Tom Hanks always as an entertainer because he has a great quality of being funny and doing unique character work, but then also feeling entirely sincere,” Palmer continues. “And so I think more than anything, that’s what I wanted to make sure that I captured.”

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As Palmer explains, she’s “always thinking about that” in any role she takes on: “Being sincere, finding unique ways to embody this person and hopefully finding moments of levity.”

“Because I think that’s true to life,” she adds. “Everything is not always so dramatic, you know what I mean? And so that was me trying to make sure that we maintained at least the vibe and the tone where it feels warm, you feel safe enough to lean in, but then also interested enough to step back.”

In The ‘Burbs, Palmer stars as Samira, a new mom and curious neighbor who moves into her husband’s old community of Hinkley Hills. While there, Samira gets pulled into a too-close-to-home mystery that has the neighborhood scratching their heads.

Rounding out the cast are Jack Whitehall (who plays her husband Rob), Justin Kirk, Paula Pell, Julia Duffy, Kapil Talwalkar, Mark Proksch and more. Some cast members from the 1989 film also make cameos.

“I would honestly say [it’s] our love for comedy and not in like a superficial kind of way,” Palmer says of what connected the cast. “But in this way that it’s probably saved us more times than we’d even want to mention in terms of the way that we process the world.”

She adds, “There’s so much heaviness that’s always happening and I think that this show is really about finding a way through that, through community, through heart and with humor, not as something to hide things, but as a way to literally metabolize them. Sometimes that’s the easiest way to get things down, to help you sober up and just be able to face them head on.”

All eight episodes of The Burbs are now streaming on Peacock.

Read the original article on People