Only 12, she already casts a spell

''Akeelah and the Bee," a feel-good film about a young girl competing in the National Spelling Bee, could spell stardom for 12-year-old singer-actress Keke Palmer, previously seen in ''Barbershop 2: Back in Business" and the TV movie ''The Wool Cap." Palmer plays Akeelah Anderson, a seventh-grader from South Los Angeles who overcomes peer pressure and self-doubt to become a word whiz. Written and directed by Doug Atchison and costarring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, the film opens nationwide today. Palmer and Atchison chatted with Pop! on their recent swing through Boston.

What was it like to carry a major motion picture at your age?

Palmer: It was the most fun time I've had on a set.

Atchison: Amazingly enough, it wasn't daunting for Keke, either. She was a total pro.

Doug, did you audition many actresses for the part?

Atchison: Hundreds. We thought we'd find a kid from the community with no acting experience, but it was too complicated a role.

Keke, was it tough working for Doug?

Palmer: Not at all. I'm tougher than Doug is. [He laughs.] I am! Seriously, he let me do whatever I thought was right in a scene. I taught him well.

What was your biggest concern about casting Keke in the lead?

Atchison: We cast her in May '04 but did not begin shooting until Feb '05, by which time Keke had turned 11 and grown 2 inches taller. I told the producers: If we don't shoot this now, Akeelah will have already grown up.

Was the documentary ''Spellbound" on your mind when you wrote the script?

Atchison: I wrote it in 1999. ''Spellbound," which I liked a lot, came out in 2003. Still, I had concerns about how it would affect our film. Now I think it helped us.

How so?

Atchison: By treating the spelling bee for what it is, a sporting event, and teaching audiences the rules.

Was Akeelah's character one you felt comfortable stepping into, Keke?

Palmer: I did. She reminded me a lot of myself, except I've never been afraid of acting.

Akeelah has trouble maintaining normal relationships after becoming a local celebrity. You too?

Palmer: My life is definitely not normal. I can count on my hand the number of friends I have. I'd love to graduate from eighth grade and go to high school -- I've been home-schooled since I was 10 -- but that's not possible with my schedule.

The coolest part of shooting all those scenes with Laurence Fishburne?

Palmer: Like Dr. Larabee [Fishburne's character], he became my teacher. Only he was teaching me about making movies, not spelling.

When did the acting bug bite you?

Palmer: It bit me early and pretty hard. I always wanted to be an entertainer whether it was singing, dancing, or acting.

You just signed with Atlantic Records. If you had to choose between singing and acting, which would it be?

Palmer: Right now I lean more toward singing.

Any role models?

Palmer: Brandy, for her singing but even more for her acting. I don't want to be just a kid actor.

Do you interact with fans much?

Palmer: On kekepalmer.net [her website] almost every day. I'd do more, but my dad doesn't want me on the Internet too much.

JOSEPH P. KAHN