KeKe Palmer Looking All Grown and Sexy on the Cover of ‘Rolling Out’ [PHOTOS]

The girl who rose to fame as the precocious Akeelah in the 2006 hit Akeelah & the Bee is a now a 20-year old young adult…welcome to the world of actress KeKe Palmer.

Palmer, who covers the latest edition of Rolling Out Magazine spoke about landing the role of her dreams in “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story” and why she puts her career first.

See excerpts;

On evolving from the "child star" label:

“When people think of me initially, they remember me as ‘Akeelah'. Sometimes it can be frustrating to be remembered at an age that you’ve outgrown. But at the same time, it’s never frustrated me to the point where I wanted to lash out. I just take it one step at a time.

I’ve been patient in letting other people adapt to me and my growth....As an adult, you don’t have to go around saying ‘Hey, I’m an adult!’ That would be like me saying ‘Guess what — I’m black!’ You know it already.

On landing the role of Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas:

“It was a dream come true. I never would’ve imagined that I would be doing something like that. Being a kid growing up and loving TLC and then doing the movie and playing my favorite member? It was overwhelming.

Afterward, when I saw other people’s reactions to it, there was a little bit of added pressure. Typically when I approach a project, I always have pressure on myself because I want to surpass my last project. But realizing even much more so how big of a deal this was going to be for fans, I realized ‘omigod, I really have to nail this!’ ”