Keke Palmer isn't a fan of burnout, as a concept. In a new interview with Marie Claire for our January 2026 Mogul Issue, the multi-hyphenate explains why.
"I hate the concept of burnout because it feels like it's this creepy thing around the corner waiting for us," Palmer tells Danielle Prescod.
"When we mention burnout, it sounds like an ending. But I kind of feel like burnout comes and goes. It’s like a meter, that’s like, I gotta reverse, I went too far; let me remind myself to chill it on down.
"That's how I experience burnout and that's how my response to burnout is like, Oh, I let the iron get too hot. Let me turn it back to a medium. Let me turn it low for a little bit. Then I'll raise it back up, type of thing."
The Scream Queens star goes on to explain how she counteracts any creeping burnout she might experience.
"Literally taking a nap—that energy," she says. "It's truly, truly, really, really pausing.
"I just had an experience recently with this project that I'm going to be doing, and the experience of filming the project, it was a little bit too intense. I said to my team, 'I'm cool to not do it.'
"That's a version of reverse. It's like the premeditated version, because I already know how this is lining up; it’s gonna burn me the f out.
"So the answer is, holla at your girl, because if it ain't right, I'm not doing it. Sometimes it's, I'm not doing the thing in order to not have an experience of burnout."
Palmer says she's much better at work-life balance than she used to be, but that she doesn't regret the many years when she was working super hard around the clock: As far as she's concerned, it got her to where she is now.
The star has many irons in the fire these days: She's acting, producing, championing other talent, launching a wellness app, making music, podcasting and parenting her two-year old Leodis.
