Since her first role in the heartwarming spelling bee movie Akeelah and the Bee, Keke Palmer has had an acclaimed TV and film career, including an appearance in season 10 of Grey's Anatomy. Palmer is also a singer, whose album So Cool was released in 2007, and she played Marty Maraschino in 2016's Grease: Live. The actor also starred in dramatic movies like Cleaner in 2007, Hustlers in 2019, and Alice in 2022. She has won praise for her horror roles, including Zayday Williams in Ryan Murphy's campy Scream Queens and Emerald Haywood in Jordan Peele's supernatural 2022 release Nope.
Along with appearing on Grey's Anatomy, Keke Palmer has held several TV roles, including Coral Anders on Masters of Sex and Elizabeth Royce Harwood on 90210. Several years prior, she appeared in one episode of Law & Order: SVU as Tasha Wright, and she played Janelle Parkerson on ER. While Palmer's Grey's Anatomy character has a one-episode arc, she brings up a weighty debate about medicine and patient care, and her performance has been celebrated in the years since.
Keke Palmer Played Sheryll Jeffries In Season 10
Keke Palmer played Sheryll Jeffries in Grey's Anatomy season 10, episode 16, "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place." She is a pregnant 17-year-old suffering from hypoplastic left heart syndrome and inquires about joining Cristina Yang's (Sandra Oh) clinical trial. Alone and determined, Sheryll left home upon learning that she was expecting, and now that surgery hasn't fixed her, she needs a heart transplant. This was one of the darkest storylines before Cristina left Grey's Anatomy in season 10, showing the character's tough personality.
Cristina says no because Sheryll is older than her ideal participants, and Palmer gives a strong, memorable performance as a young adult fighting for what she wants. Sheryll is right to stand up for herself, as she gives birth at the hospital, and she is afraid of dying. Cristina has a particular idea of the heart that she wants to work on, which brings up whether doctors should always help patients or if she is right to be picky here. This brings up a challenging question about health care.
Keke Palmer’s Grey's Anatomy Role Has Had A Positive Influence On Her Career
Keke Palmer's Grey's Anatomy casting was written about extensively, and promoting the news, Shonda Rhimes said she wanted to cover more significant subjects through episodes like this one: "There are so many problems in the world that there’s a lot that can be tackled" (via THR). Palmer is considered one of the most notable guest stars on Grey's Anatomy, and several publications continue to write about renowned actors like her who have been part of emotional arcs on the hospital drama.
Palmer's Grey's Anatomy role has had a positive impact on her acting career, although at the time that her episode aired in 2013, several recaps from publications such as Entertainment Weekly and TV Fanatic didn't mention her by name or comment on her performance. However, in the years since, Palmer has been praised for her honest portrayal of a teenager facing a scary scenario, and she is often discussed among other celebrities playing patients in similar situations. The actor has brought the same emotion to her characters since, notably Nope's Emerald, who is helping her brother, Haywood Jr. (Daniel Kaluuya), in the midst of a supernatural occurrence.