Keke Palmer “a true fan” of TLC has been tapped to play Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas in an upcoming VH-1 biopic on the iconic group.
Growing up in Chicago, music became second nature to Palmer. Palmer’s mother, a background session singer, often took young Keke and her older sister, L’Oreal, to the studio with her to record, where Palmer fell in love with music.
“I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a singer like my mom,” says the singer and actress about her early passion for music.
Others who inspired Palmer’s dream included Brandy, Aaliyah and the electric trio out of Atlanta, TLC. Palmer was only 6 years old when TLC released their third record-breaking album, Fan Mail.
“I would sing ‘No Scrubs’ over and over again to the point my parents would have to tell me to stop, but I never did, I had my little hairbrush as my mic and nobody could tell me I wasn’t the fourth member of TLC,” laughs Palmer at the memory.
Palmer will be trading in the hairbrush for a real mic as she takes on the role of TLC’s beloved Chilli, in the upcoming VH1 TLC biopic, to be filmed in Atlanta next month. Coming off of her critically acclaimed performance in the Lifetime special, “Abducted: The Carlina White Story,” for which the actress was nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series/Dramatic Special at the recent NAACP Image Awards, Palmer says she is quite aware of how TLC fans will react to a bad movie about their lives.
“I am a true fan. I love these ladies and I always want to be proud of my work in any role that I do,” she says. –ruthie hawkins
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