The Ritz-Carlton hotel is not a place I frequent, so my apprehension over entering this luxurious hotel for the first time ever was understandable. That uncertainty grew even more because I was interviewing the two most important people from the upcoming Lions Gate release, "Akeelah and the Bee": director/screenwriter Doug Atchison and lead actor Keke Palmer. Considering that the interview was held in such an extravagant hotel, I almost expected Atchison to be wearing a stuffy suit and tie. Instead, he just looked and acted like a laidback, average guy in a button-down shirt and slacks. On the other hand, my image of Palmer was that of her character in "Akeelah": an ordinary 12-year-old girl. Palmer was incredibly poised and mature beyond her years, perhaps as a result of all her experience in Hollywood. When most girls Palmer's age are gearing up for to enter junior high, Palmer has already appeared in various television shows, such as "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "ER," three made-for-TV movies, and a major motion picture (2004's "Barbershop 2: Back in Business"). She was the youngest actor ever nominated for a Screen Actors' Guild award for a leading role, an honor she garnered for her performance in 2004's television movie, "The Wool Cap," in which she starred opposite William H. Macy. And, as if that isn't enough, Palmer is also releasing a CD this summer. "Akeelah and the Bee," due out nationwide on Apr. 28, is Atchison's first movie with a major production company. The film tells the story of Akeelah Anderson, an inner-city girl who beats the odds to compete in the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee. Having experienced the Bee before, I had an engaging discussion with the director and star.
Question: So this movie is really different from your last movie, right? ("The Pornographer" [1999])
Doug Atchison: Yeah, I don't talk about that movie too much when we're talking about this movie ["Akeelah and the Bee"]. My friends and I were actually just talking about this. That was a low-budget independent film that we made that was not a theatrical film, but it did well in theaters. But this ["Akeelah"] was a project we've been trying to make for over ten years.
Q: So what made you excited to direct this movie?
DA: Well, I wrote it. I wrote the film in '99 after having thought about it for four or five years, because I saw the [Scripps] National Spelling Bee on ESPN in 1994 and thought it would be a great subject matter to make a film about. And then I went to the USC film school, which is in South L.A.; I had some affinity for the neighborhood and for the kids there, and I wanted to tell a story about one of those kids who had the intelligence and the ability to do this [participate in a national spelling bee competition] but not the encouragement or the access or the resources... And so it's something I just thought about and thought about and thought about for a long, long time, and in '99 I wrote the script, and in 2000, it won the Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting [$30,000 prize awarded to amateur screenwriters], which is a screenwriting competition put on by the Academy [of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]...And it ["Akeelah"] was one of five winners out of about 4,300 scripts, and that was what started the ball rolling in getting the film made; that's why I talked to Sid Ganis [Sidney Ganis, one of "Akeelah"'s producers]. And I wanted to direct the film because I wanted to preserve the integrity of the film; a lot of people would buy the film and change it into something other than what it was, but I didn't want that to happen. I also thought I would do a pretty good job. So we just stuck at it, and finally, Lions Gate who has a record of giving newer filmmakers opportunities, gave me the opportunity - along with 2929 [Productions] - to make the movie the way I wanted to make it.
Q: So this was kind of your first major directing experience?
DA: Hm. It was my first experience with a studio with a theatrical release. I mean, I've got to release it ["Akeelah"] on about 2,000 screens, which is considered a pretty major release, particularly for, you know, a film that a lot of other studios might have considered more of an art house piece or something like that. And we approached it [the marketing strategy for "Akeelah"] not that way; it's a big, entertaining, crowd-pleasing movie. It's got, you know, other much more serious themes to it, but...I mean, you saw the people last night [at the screening]; they were cheering and laughing and crying and clapping and really excited about the movie, which is what our first responsibility is, is to make sure people are engaged, and [that] they like what they're seeing.
Q: Actually, I went to the [Scripps] National Spelling Bee twice when I was in middle school - when I was in sixth grade and eighth grade.
DA: From what state? Massachusetts?
Q: Yeah, Massachusetts.
DA: So you won the regional bee here twice?
Q: Yeah.
DA: Wow, so how did you do at the Bee, the National Bee?
Q: Well, I got out in the first round.
DA: [laughter] Ha ha, it's tough! But just getting there is a major accomplishment.
Q: Yeah, so I really kind of related to the film. I really liked it.
DA: What did you relate to about it? What struck you after your experience in the Bee?
Q: Well, I've read, like, "Bee Season" [novel by Myla Goldberg made into a 2005 feature film starring Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, and Flora Cross], and I saw that movie, and just the way I've seen the Bee portrayed in other places, it's not that accurate. But I thought this movie ["Akeelah"] portrayed it really accurately.
DA: Did you think the kids were accurate, the ones we had in the movie? Did they seem like spelling bee kids to you?
Q: Yeah! [laughter]
DA: Did you have - let me ask you something: how did you study for the bee? Did you have something like Dr. Larabee [Akeelah's tutor and spelling bee coach in the film, played by Laurence Fishburne] or did you have a parent that worked with you?
Q: My mom worked with me, but actually, once I won the regional bee, I didn't study that much for it.
DA: And that's probably why you were out in the first round! [laughter]
Q: But, I mean, I knew it was really hard; I didn't expect to win or anything.
DA: Did you have fun when you went there going on all the tours and everything?
Q: Oh yeah, it was really, really fun.
DA: Yeah, it's funny, you know. When I went to the national bee and I went on all those tours with the kids, I realized that the people [competitors] who came in the top ten, they weren't on any of those tours with us. [laughter] I didn't see those kids until the bee; I think they were in their hotel rooms studying.
Q: Yeah, there are some kids that are really intense [with] live-in tutors and everything.
DA: Oh, like Dylan [one of Akeelah's competitors] in the movie?
Q: Yeah. Okay, well, I guess I'll ask you [Keke Palmer] some questions. What was it like to work with a major star like Laurence Fishburne?
Keke Palmer: Oh, it was amazing, just a great, great time. I mean, Angela Bassett [who plays Akeelah's mom] and Laurence Fishburne were just such nice people to work with. They're just like regular people, you know? Like you and me.
Q: So did you have a spelling coach to prepare for the movie? Like, did you have to learn all the words?
KP: I did have to learn all the words, but I did it with me and my family: my mom, my dad, and my sister. They read with me, and it didn't take a long time. I looked at 'em a couple of times, and it was just like, "I got it." I just knew 'em. They're pretty easy to learn.
Q: Oh wow! [laughter]
DA: Yeah, but she [Palmer] didn't have to learn the whole dictionary -
KP: Yeah, [not] like you guys [real-life spelling bee competitors] -
DA: Just like a hundred words or something.
KP: But, yeah, I just quickly learned.
DA: You're pretty smart.
Q: You were nominated for -
KP: SAG [Screen Actors' Guild] Award and NAACP [Image] Award [for "The Wool Cap"], and I won the ShoWest Award [for "Akeelah"]. [ShoWest is a film group that honors the work of outstanding actors, directors, producers, etc. in much the same way as the Academy Awards. This year's ShoWest Awards ceremony was held in mid-March in Las Vegas.]
DA: [to Palmer] Tell her about what the ShoWest Award is.
KP: The ShoWest Award is [for] Rising Star of the Year, and I'm rising up to a star. [laughter] I won that award, and we [Atchison and Palmer] went [to the ShoWest convention] and talked about "Akeelah and the Bee" and stuff like that, and I won the award. And I was nominated for the NAACP [Image] Award for Best Supporting Actress - or, Best Lead Actress - in a TV Movie or Mini-Series [for "The Wool Cap"], and the same for the SAG Awards.
DA: And you were the youngest person ever to be nominated -
KP: I was the youngest person ever to be nominated [for a SAG Award].
Q: Oh, wow!
