Keke Palmer reveals why she passed on Whitney Houston role in biopic

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At only 20-years-old, Keke Palmer has made history as the youngest TV talk show host ever, with her new BET show, Just Keke.

The Akeelah and the Bee star brings her unique point of the view to the show, which she says “speaks directly and candidly to the millennial generation.”

Keke has had dreamed of hosting a talk show since she was 16-years-old but instead decided to focus on her acting career, appearing alongside Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah in Joyful Noise, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion, and lending her voice to two installments of the animated film Ice Age.

In an interview with theGrio.com’s entertainment editor, Chris Witherspoon, Keke discussed her highly publicized recent interview with Chris Brown’s girlfriend, Karrueche Tran, and says that her dream talk show guest is Brown’s former flame, Rihanna.

“Rihanna is an individual,” Keke says. “She represents everything that I believe in, which is being yourself and not allowing other people to change you.”

Over the past two years, Keke has appeared in three Lifetime original movies — Abducted: The Carlina White Story, CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, and The Trip to Bountiful.

Keke discussed the upcoming Lifetime Whitney Houston biopic and revealed why she decided against pursuing an opportunity to star as the late iconic singer.

“Initially, I was thinking about the Whitney Houston [Biopic] … to play Whitney,” Keke said. “But I don’t know if that was a story that I wanted to tell, because the family’s not involved, and that’s a big part for me.”

“I think if you’re going to do a movie or biopic about someone, the family needs to be involved, because you want it to be as honest as possible. I think that was what didn’t really make me go out for it.”

Keke, who is friends with Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, also weighed in on her harsh words for Angela Bassett for not considering casting her to play the role of her mother in the Lifetime biopic.

Bobbi Kristina lashes out at Angela Bassett over Lifetime biopic

“I can’t say that everything [Bobbi Kristina] said was perfectly said or anything like that, but I can understand her frustration. I think it came more from the family not being involved at all… It feels as if you’re trying to use the name but you’re not really even caring about the people that are gonna be affected by it, like the family.”

Tune in for all new episodes of Just Keke weekdays at 5/4c on BET.

Follow theGrio.com’s Entertainment Editor Chris Witherspoon on Twitter @WitherspoonC.