EURweb |
KEKE PALMER GOES 'LONG' FOR ANOTHER FAMILY BIO-PIC: Actress stars as young girl quarterback.
In “The Longshots,” co-starring Ice Cube as Coach Fisher, Palmer goes from being our favorite spelling bee champ in 2006’s “Akeelah and the Bee,” to taking on another true story, playing a girl quarterback who is the first female to make a national Pop Warner tournament appearance.
“The movie is about a little girl who goes to the national Pop Warner event – the first ever – and plays the quarterback (position). It’s called ‘Longshots’ [she] and her uncle (Ice Cube), they’re taking a long shot as a team.”
This true story of Jasmine Plummer who, at the age of eleven, became the first female to play in a Pop Warner football tournament in its 56-year history, follows her and her down-and-out uncle who discovers and encourages her talent.
“The amazing part to me is it’s a true story and that this really happened,” Palmer said. “It happened around 2000. The girl is 15 now. It happened it in Harvey, Illinois. And the funny thing is that Harvey is not too far from where I grew up.”
With that similarity, Palmer found it easy to morph into Plummer and also found out that she had an athletic prowess that she might want to explore.
“I went through a month of football training, like 100 balls a day. I was throwing them, getting the mechanics and getting the footwork,” she said. “I got a lot of muscles and now I’m even better with my athletic ability.”
1.jpg)
Scroll down to see 'The Longshots' trailer
The young actress told EUR’s Lee Bailey that the film used none to very little editing in regard to the actual throws and plays she made on the screen. She boasts about a 40-yard throw, which ain’t half bad, even though the real girl-wonder can spiral the pigskin 60 feet.
“I’ve never been into sports that much,” the actress defended. “I’ve done a little bit and people tell me I’d do good ‘cause I have long fingers so I could play basketball, or that I should do ballet or be a gymnast, but I just never tried it. When I did the movie, the guy that was coaching me, he told me I’m really athletic. Maybe I should really try it one day.”
These days, Palmer doesn’t have to try too hard. Acclaimed for her work in “Akeelah” her name is speaking well of her. So much, in fact, that she didn’t even have to audition for the part in “The Longshots.” She explained that she heard about the film and simply took a meeting with the film’s director Fred Durst – yes, that Fred Durst.
“Then I got signed on to the project. I just kind of had a meeting and talked about what I’d done and what attracted me to the movie. It wasn’t like and audition-audition. They were persistent on me being able to do the moves,” she said.
After signing on and working on the film she started doing a little research about the character and became so impressed, she excitedly reached out to the real Jasmine Plummer.
“I found out a little bit about her. She plays basketball now,” Palmer reported. “I asked her why she made the change and she said it was because her mom [was concerned] the boys were getting older. When they were younger, they were pretty much the same size, but as she got older the boys got older and stronger and tougher and meaner, so her mom told her she didn’t want her doing it anymore.”
Upon reflecting that this story could launch a female football league, but not a mixed league, Palmer confessed that she might just have the guts to play a good girl gridiron game.
“When I did the movie, I asked the guys [playing] on the team if they thought I was a tom-boy or a girly-girl. They said I could be both. I think that’s pretty good. I can be both. I can be versatile,” she said.
Such proposed time on the field wouldn’t be the first showcase of Palmer’s versatility. Her acting career alone has shown her range, from “Akeelah” to “Madea.” Now, the young star is not only prepping for other big screen projects, but she’ll be premiering her own show on Nickelodeon the fall.
“I’m really blessed right now and I hope everything continues to do well. I’m just really excited about everything going on and I just hope it continues.”
The show is called “True Jackson, VP”, and it’s about a girl who gets the Vice President post at a huge fashion conglomerate.
“It’s about how she deals with that and realizes that even though it’s in an adult world, it’s not too different from high school,” Palmer described, and explained that her shift to the small screen is great move for her career.
“It means a lot for me for my peers to know what I’m doing. For me to be on a network like Nickelodeon means they’re really going to see me and I can reach out to them more. It will help my music career and then when a movie comes out, they’ll also be able to see me on the movie. So I think mixing both is really going to help me and I’m happy that I’m able to do that right now.”
Palmer’s next film is called “Vapors” about rap’s golden era. She will be playing ‘80s raptress Roxanne Chante. In the meantime, “The Longshots” opens in theaters nationwide on August 22.
For more on Keke Palmer, check out her website at www.kekepalmer.com.
Watch the trailer for 'The Longshots':
FREE MASSAGES, BOTEX & MORE!
----------------------------
The EURweb Media Expo Friday, August 1st - 11am to
6pm - at Los Angeles Convention Center West Hall-515, will
offer free massages, and botex/collagen demos. Tell your
friends, family or co-worker who's trying to get "exposure"
about it. ADMISSION IS FREE!! Greet vendors like
Sister2Sister magazine, Tri-County Sentry, Mallia Media
Group, Ben Foster Films, L.A. Watts Times & Boosweet
Records. Come network, be enlightened and entertained.
The EURweb Media Awards Show follows. Call toll free
866-366-2160 or email eurwebexpo@eurweb.com for
more info. Visit: www.eurweb.com/mediaexpo
Click for the latest Obama - Political headlines
Share and Bookmark |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
.jpg)
