Page 10 - Provoke Magazine Vol7

Keke Palmer BLEEDS SUCCESS
-Wess Ness
Child stars might get all the attention, but it’s not always fun being one. Even harder is trying to make the transi- tion to genuine celebrity; think Macaulay Culkin (Kevin from Home Alone) or Rupert Grint, both of which strug- gled to find roles once they lost their dimples. And then, there are the child stars that can do it all. Blessed with the ability to sing and act, Keke Palmer started performing at age 5 and has been in the industry ever since.
Born on August 16, 1993, Lauryn Keyana Palmer was first introduced to the big stage by her Christian parents. Young Keyana, nicknamed Keke, amazed her Illinois congregation with a gorgeous voice. Her parents, both professional actors earlier in their careers, recognized Keke’s talent. In fact, the once-aspiring performers actu- ally met in drama school. Despite living normal lives now (father Larry worked for a plastics factory; Sharon, as a teacher at an autistic school), they wanted their daughter to have a chance at that life. They would drive her to per- form in tourist shows in Chicago, helping her gain more exposure.
Thanks to those roles, Keke was cast as Queen Lati- fah’s niece in Barbershop 2: Back in Business. Despite
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the limited screen time, it was enough to convince the family to move to California so Keke could continue auditioning for roles. Everybody had to make sacrific- es; Keke remembers begging her older sister to join. “I asked her, ‘Please?’ I knew she was excited about going to high school and I didn’t want to take that away from her – but I really wanted my dream to come true. She said, ‘You’re really talented, and I think this could be good for you.’” A good move, especially as Keke was auditioning for Broadway by age 10.
It’s one thing to audition for roles and another to actually get them. While she might have missed out on The Lion King in 2002, her role alongside Latifah caught the attention of producers. She made guest ap- pearances on popular shows like Cold Case, Law & Or- der: SVU and ER, but her big break came in the form of The Wool Cap, a movie to be released later that year. Starring opposite William Macy, Keke earned a nomi- nation for the Screen Actors Guild’s Best Leading Ac- tress, the youngest to ever do it.
Around this time, Keke began to experiment also with a career in music. Since auditions for big parts had stalled, she recorded some tracks in her spare time. She continued to do bit-part roles for TV, believing in her ability and diligently auditioning for a movie.
Of course, every child star needs a breakout mov- ie, and a 2006 audition for Akeelah and the Bee would change Keke’s life forever. Following a disadvan- taged 11-year old, the movie describes the weight on Akeelah’s shoulders as she tries to win a Spelling Bee, studying in secret to avoid the derision of her peers. It sounds like just another feel good Hollywood flick, but the surprise is Keke outshining her older stars. Roger Ebert, the granddaddy of movie critics, rated her per- formance in glowing terms. “[Keke] becomes an im- portant young star with this movie... there’s something about her poise and self-possession that hints she will grow up to be a considerable actress.” The blockbuster also featured her debut single, “All My Girlz,” sung by Keke herself and released through media empire Atlan- tic. Things were looking up.
Offers for auditions began pouring in like never be- fore. The next year, Keke starred with Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Mendes in “Cleaner” and had a role in the Dis- ney movie “Jump In.” She was now rubbing shoulders with Hollywood royalty. Surprisingly, the world found out in 2005 that it was never Keke’s ambition to act; she wanted to sing, an impulse her mom resisted and curbed into an asset for her acting career. Nonetheless, Keke announced she’d been working on her sound, a