Keke Palmer plays fashion maven in film

Keke Palmer plays fashion maven in film

LOS ANGELES — She was a girl quarterback in “The Longshots,” a reluctant school spelling champ in “Akeelah and the Bee” and a rope-skipping double Dutch competitor in “Jump In!”

Now teen actress Keke Palmer can add fashionista to her repertoire.

As the star of “True Jackson, VP,” she plays a 15-year-old fashion maven who, to the chagrin of her older co-workers, lands a job as head of a major label’s youth division.

The series suddenly has Palmer paying attention to labels and designers.

“Before, I was just like, ‘Anything that looks good, throw it on,”’ she said, laughing.

Although still not a fashion expert, the 15-year-old says she otherwise isn’t that different from her character.

“She’s a lot like me,” she says of True Jackson. “She’s persistent and hardworking and doing an adult job at a young age.”

The show will run Saturdays on the Nickelodeon cable network.

‘Sopranos’ actor to face trial on murder charge

NEW YORK — The murder trial of “Sopranos” actor Lillo Brancato Jr. is scheduled to begin just days after his co-defendant is sentenced.

A Nov. 17 trial date was set Friday for Brancato. He is charged in the December 2005 slaying of off-duty New York City police Officer Daniel Enchautegui.

Co-defendant Steven Armento, who shot the officer, was convicted of first-degree murder Oct. 30. He faces life in prison without parole at his sentencing Friday.

Authorities say Enchautegui confronted Armento and Brancato when the two broke into an apartment to steal prescription drugs.

Brancato has said he didn’t know Armento had a gun.

The 32-year-old actor played an aspiring mobster in HBO’s “The Sopranos.”

Leguizamo in revival of ‘American Buffalo’

NEW YORK — Five years after appearing with his one-man show “Sexaholix,” John Leguizamo is back on Broadway — this time in the role he watched Al Pacino perform in the ’80s.

The 44-year-old actor Leguizamo recalled seeing Pacino in the 1983-84 revival of David Mamet’s “American Buffalo.”

Directed by Robert Falls, the play opens Nov. 17.

“American Buffalo” debuted in 1977 with Robert Duvall, Kenneth McMillan and John Savage. Its first revival featured Pacino, James Hayden and J.J. Johnston in 1983-84.

The new revival co-stars Haley Joel Osment and Cedric the Entertainer, both making their Broadway debut. For the first time the play features a multiracial cast, with a Latino, a Caucasian and a black.

Leguizamo won an Emmy for his monologue “Freak” — which originally appeared on Broadway in 1998 — and was nominated for a Golden Globe for his supporting role in 1995’s “To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.”

His next film role comes in the soon-to-be-released “Nothing Like the Holidays” starring Debra Messing.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Russell Johnson (“Gilligan’s Island”) is 84. Actor Albert Hall (“Ally McBeal,” “Beloved”) is 71. Country singer Donna Fargo is 67. Actor-comedian Sinbad is 52. Actress Mackenzie Phillips (“One Day At A Time”) is 49. Comedian Tommy Davidson (“In Living Color”) is 45. Actor Michael Jai White is 44. Country singer Chris Cagle is 40. Comedian Tracy Morgan (”30 Rock”) is 40. Actress Ellen Pompeo (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 39. Country singer Miranda Lambert is 25. Actor Josh Peck (“Drake and Josh”) is 22.