News
Keke Palmer: The ‘Full Circle’ Interview
By Kam Williams
Special to The Skanner News
‘Follow your heart’s truth with
no need for personal gain
other than the feeling
produced when doing what
you truly love’
B
orn in Harvey, Ill., on Aug. 26, 1993, Lauren Keyana
Palmer has been wowing audiences since the tender
age of nine. Keke first received great acclaim when
she starred as the title character in the sleeper hit “Akeelah
and the Bee,” opposite actor Laurence Fishburne and
Angela Bassett.
Keke followed that powerful performance with lead roles
in “The Longshots,” “Shrink” and “Joyful Noise.” She’s
also made memorable appearances in such films as “Bar-
bershop 2: Back in Business,” “Cleaner” and “Madea’s
Family Reunion,” as well as voiceover work in animated
features like “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” “Winx Club: The
Secret of the Lost Kingdom” and “Unstable Fables: Tor-
toise vs. Hare.”
Keke will next be starring in the horror thriller “Animal,”
directed by Brett Simmons, which is set to release in the
spring of 2014. On TV, Keke played the title character on
the hit Nickelodeon series “True Jackson VP,” and received
four NAACP Awards for “Best Actress in Children’s Tele-
vision.” Her other television credits include “90210,”
“Cold Case,” “Law & Order: SVU,” and “ER,” to name a
few.
In 2012, she produced and starred in her first made for TV
movie entitled “Rags,” which aired on Nickelodeon. Earli-
er this year, she handled another title role in the Lifetime
made-for-TV movie, “The Carlina White Story.”
Keke is currently starring in the DirectTV miniseries
“Full Circle,”written by Neil LaBute. And musically, she is
in the studio recording her second album with the award-
winning producer Bangladesh.
When she isn’t acting or singing, Keke believes in giving
back. She is very involved with the Boys & Girls Club of
America, Saving Our Daughters, the YWCA, the Embrace
Girls Foundation, and she is an ambassador for Robi Reid’s
AIDS awareness and prevention organization, the Reid for
Hope Foundation.
Here she talks about her latest outing as Rozonda “Chilli”
Thomas in Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story, a VH1 origi-
nal movie.
Keke Palmer: No problem, Kam. Glad to be here!
KW: What interested you in Crazy Sexy Cool? Were you
a fan of TLC as a kid?
KP: Being a fan is exactly what made me want to do this
film. I wanted to be a part of telling the story of a favorite
group of mine.
KW: How did you prepare for the role? Is it hard to play
a real-life person than a fictional character?
KP: I just watched a lot of old footage. I also spent a lot
of time with Chilli and just observed her.
KW: Was Chilli present on the set making suggestions?
KP: Yes! She definitely let me do my thing, but she was
always there for questions.
KW: How would you describe TLC’s legacy in one
word?
Lauren Keyana Palmer
See KEKE on page 10
Kam Williams: Hi Keke, thanks for another interview.
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October 23, 2013 The Portland Skanner Page 9