Keke Palmer was "traumatised" after a former manager said her mother would "die" unless she lost weight.

The 31-year-old actress was just 12 at the time when her unnamed former manager criticised her mother's health.

She told The Cut: "That really, really traumatised me and stressed me out.

"It got me thinking she was going to die, thinking about things like medical bills. It was just too much."

The 'Nope' actress rose to fame as a child star on 'True Jackson, VP', which followed a 15-year-old fashion executive.

Keke related to the character, who was "climbing a corporate ladder, working a grown-up job as a kid".

True's parents were rarely featured on screen, and being there for yourself was something that the actress took on board even at a young age.

She explained: "She was making it happen for herself independently in the world.

"Growing up with that character -- it bled over into how I wanted to show up, how I want to deal with life."

Keke recently opened up about life in the spotlight, and insisted fame makes everyone feel "lonely" and "alienated".

Speaking to Self magazine, she said: "It is lonely. How I deal with it is to not centre myself.

"I think about all the other people who feel weird in the world, because if we take all the glamour out of it, and all the specifics and uniqueness of what it means to be famous, it just means feeling weird.

"I think everybody in the world feels extraordinarily alienated, and we feel even more alienated when we alienate others. And that's what comes with fame."

Keke previously admitted becoming the main breadwinner in her house aged 12 disrupted her family's dynamic.

Despite this, the actress still appreciates the values she was taught by her parents.

She has told The Guardian newspaper: "Y'know, I look today at what the kids are saying online - and by 'the kids', I mean the folks, everyone - we have these weird ideas of what it means to be a man or woman, and it's so stringent.

"My parents bounced back and forth to play all different roles."