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Scream Queens

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s socially acceptable to very publicly crush on your favorite lady. This week, we’re head over heels for Keke Palmer, part of Ryan Murphy’s latest camp horror ensemble, Scream Queens.

After a seemingly harmless sorority pledge goes horribly awry back in 1995, Wallace University is stalked by a mysterious masked figure known as Red Devil, who won’t rest until the sisters of the elitist Kappa House are wiped from the college record books. Flash-forward twenty years when, in an effort to put scary rumors to rest and make Wallace a more welcoming campus, anti-sorority Dean Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) forces Kappa to open its annual pledge to anyone, sending leader Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) into a fit of rage. Red Devil, meanwhile, is out for blood, and now has plenty of pledges to slice his way through. Also starring Ariana Grande, Skyler Samuels, Lea Michele, and Keke Palmer as Zayday Williams, Scream Queens has the potential to be the next great camp horror comedy.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FtenR69qmk]

WHO’S THAT GAL?: Lauren Keyana “Keke” Palmer

WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: Palmer, who got her start in smalltime TV movies, has been grinding it out since her elementary school days, eventually landing the lead role as Akeelah in Doug Atchison’s award-winning drama Akeelah and the Bee, which follows an inner city student’s journey to the National Spelling Bee. After that, the young actress and singer stole the show as Chili in CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, before popping up just about everywhere thereafter. While we’re excited to see Emma Roberts duke it out with Jamie Lee Curtis in FOX’s upcoming Scream Queens, we’re psyched to see an awesome talent like Palmer get her due as a regular cast member on a major network series.

WHERE YOU KNOW HER FROM: In addition to Akeelah and the Bee and The TLC Story, Palmer has voiced the character of Peaches in the Ice Age franchise (you remember that stylish mammoth, right?) since its beginning. If you’re familiar with your Nickelodeon programming, Palmer was the star of Winx and its subsequent spin-offs as well as True Jackson, VP — which, in budding feminist fashion, follows a 15-year-old vice president of a major designer label. After her time as a Nick star came to a quiet close, Palmer graduated to more mature fare in The CW’s 90210 remake and Showtime’s Masters of Sex to indie flicks like Imperial Dreams, Animal, and Brotherly Love.

WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER NEXT: Palmer is slated to star as Marty Maraschino in the upcoming TV special, Grease: Live, airing next year. You’ll also hear her again as Peaches in the new sequel Ice Age: Collision Course, also out in 2016. For now, however, enjoy Palmer as sorority girl Zayday in Scream Queens, airing Tuesday, September 22 on FOX.

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Photos: Everett Collection