Singer Keke Palmer really has no idea how she got cast in Ryan Murphy's new comedy horror series "Scream Queens," but she feels grateful nonetheless for being a part of it.
"It's been a dream come true. You get to grow on the show. You get to be a part of creating your character. The way the writers go about it, they input part of who you are - and they exaggerate it," she told Variety in an interview. "Whether it's more funny or more dramatic, they just take little bits and expand on them. It makes it fun for you because you get to go deeper into that part of you that you didn't know was there."
She revealed that Murphy just called her agent up one day and asked if she'd be interested to do the show. When they met up, Murphy asked Palmer what she wanted to do as an actor, and she admitted that she wanted to give comedy a go. Next thing she knew, she was given a role in "Scream Queens."
Palmer said that she worked previously on "True Jackson VP," but working with Murphy felt entirely different.
"He's the type of director that lets you do your thing. That can be nerve-wracking as an actor because depending on your experience, you might have been with a lot of directors who over-direct or directors who are very specific," she explained. "It's not very often that you get directors like Ryan who trust you so much with what he feels you can do with the character that he lets you go off the rails a bit. It was scary at first when I first start working with him. But then I realized what he was doing was make me independent as an actor. He brought out the best out in me."
Another person Palmer learned a lot from was horror veteran Jamie Lee Curtis, whom she described as "the coolest lady." All the other girls in the show seem to adore her to bits, and Palmer agrees.
"There's nothing you can ever say negative about someone like her. She's the sweetest person you could ever meet," she said. "I wasn't on set for a couple of days and she was like, 'You were really missed. Where's our Keke?' She's such a class act. She teaches us girls coming up how to be. She sets a great example. I'm blessed in my career to work with people like that."
