At one time, she was the fourth highest paid child actress in the business. Now, the youngest person ever to host her own TV show is set to be the first African-American to play Cinderella on Broadway. It’s no wonder Luaren Keyana “Keke” Palmer, at only 21 years old, is our girl crush.
Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress and activist, Keke is a young woman of many skills and talents. Since her earliest credited role as Queen Latifah’s niece in the comedy-drama film Barbershop 2: Back in Business; to her nation-grabbing performance as an 11-year old girl from the rough side of LA who goes on to win the national spelling bee in Akeelah and the Bee, to her break out role in Nickelodeon’s True Jackson VP—where she played a 15-year old Vice President of an apparel company, a role that earned her $20,000 an episode, Keke has continued to be a presence in the cut-throat film and television industry.
Keke’s lengthy but successful career has allowed her to star alongside many big names like Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Dolly Parton and the list goes on. She has also lent her voice to such blockbusters as Ice Age: Continental Drift where she voiced the animated character Peaches, a woolly mammoth.
In light of her much success (nominated for a Screen Actor’s Guild and winner of a Young Artist award and several NAACP Image Awards), Keke continues to devote her time speaking to the youth through such organizations as the Boys’ and Girls’ Club of America.
Though, known mostly for her acting, Keke has also found some success in the music industry.
Haven written and performed songs for several films she starred in, Keke is a force to be reckoned with. Although her first studio album failed to reach the Billboard top 200, she hasn’t given up on one of her passions and continues to make music.Not one to bite her tongue and a woman of very many words, Keke speaks what she feels. “If you have a message to tell and to get across, use every situation you can to get that message across,” Keke told YAHOO!TV. Her new talk show, Just Keke, which airs on BET on weekdays at 5 pm EST., is the perfect platform to relay that message. Geared towards her peers, Keke’s talk show also aims to give a voice to the young generation with such topics concerning dating, sex, drugs and school life.
Admirably, Keke is the youngest person ever to have her own talk show, taking the title from Ricky Lake who was 25-years old at the time she debuted The Ricky Lake Show.
As if making history once isn’t enough for this just turned 21-year-old, she does it again. When Cinderella returns to Broadway, Keke will become the first African-American to play this role, taking over the part from Canandian singer Carly Rae Jepsen. Sherri Shepard, a former co-host of ABC’s The View, is set to play her stepmother.
Keke had thought of someday doing Broadway but it still came as a shock. “I’m sooooo excited to be doing Broadway for the first time, as Cinderella! DREAMS DO COME TRUE!!,” Keke tweeted back in August on her twitter account where she has 1.5 million followers.
Keke is scheduled to take over the role of Cinderella from September until January 2015.
(Feature Photo via Soul Train)