Exclusive: KeKe Palmer talks ‘Alice’ thriller and learning Black experiences from the 70s
Coming out this week from Vertical Entertainment and Roadside Attractions is the dramatic thriller Alice, which premiered last month at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Written and directed by Krystin Ver Linden, the film will released theatrically on Mar. 18, 2022.
The film stars Keke Palmer as Alice, an enslaved person yearning for freedom on a rural Georgia plantation under its brutal and disturbed owner Paul (Jonny Lee Miller). After a violent clash with Paul, she flees through the neighboring woods and stumbles onto the unfamiliar sight of a highway, soon discovering the year is actually 1973. Rescued on the roadside by a disillusioned political activist named Frank (Common), Alice quickly comprehends the lies that have kept her in bondage and the promise of Black liberation. Inspired by true accounts, Alice is a modern empowerment fable tracing Alice’s journey through the post-Civil Rights Era American South.
The film also stars Gaius Charles, Alicia Witt, Craig Stark and Shiquita James. The music was produced and songs curated by Common, Karrien Riggins, and Patrick Warren. Alice was financed and produced by Peter Lawson through his Steel Springs Pictures banner. Palmer and Common will executive produce alongside Jose Agustin Valdes and Vickie de Varona Hsieh.
A talk-show host, actress and activist, Palmer has grown up before our very eyes from Akeelah and the Bee, Madea's Family Reunion, Joyful Noise, and Brotherly Love to more dramatic lead roles in Hustlers and Pimp. She recently hosted the Disney+ original series Foodtastic, and is currently lending her voice to “Maya” in Disney+'s revival of the “The Proud Family” and “Rochelle” in Netflix’s new “Big Mouth” spinoff “Human Resources.”
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales spoke with Palmer about her role in Alice, where she also serves as an executive producer on the film.
