It all spells s-u-c-c-e-s-s

Keke Palmer doesn’t look much like Sylvester Stallone, but in some ways she’s the new “Rocky.”

Palmer stars in the new family film “Akeelah and the Bee” as a clever 11-year-old speller, undaunted by words such as “prestidigitation” and “soliterraneous” but worried that showing off her smarts will make her unpopular.

As she approaches the National Spelling Bee, she is pushed by a cantankerous teacher (Laurence Fishburne) and hurt by a detached mother (Angela Bassett). But her friends, trouble-prone brother and even the local thugs become unexpected coaches.

Akeelah may not swing her fists while jumping at the top of a set of stairs like Rocky, but she slings multisyllabic words while jumping rope in a similar story of inspiration.

So what does Palmer, 12, have in common with her character?

“Akeelah is shy, and I’m not. Akeelah is a little insecure. I’m not insecure. Akeelah, well, she’s smart. And I’m smart. Akeelah is …”

Modest?

“Noooo,” she says, and laughs, shrinking into a ball in her chair.

Palmer, who is also an aspiring pop singer and dancer, had fun playing someone who works hard for the confidence that comes naturally to her in real life.

“That’s the fun part of acting – where you can pretend,” she says.

Mike Paseornek, production chief for Lionsgate Films, which is releasing “Akeelah,” has another comedy he’d like Palmer to headline and is negotiating for a TV show.

“Keke gives you a hug every time she sees you,” he says. “She lights up the room, and she gives off an electricity that comes off the screen.”

Palmer, whose given name is Lauren, has wanted to perform since she was 5, when she talked her mother into letting her join the church choir.

At 9, she auditioned for “The Lion King,” and though she was too young, the casting director said she had talent.

She begged her parents to move the family – older sister Loreal (who nicknamed her Keke) and two young twins – to Los Angeles.

“I talked it over with my sister, and I didn’t have anything to bribe her,” Palmer says.

“I knew she was excited about going to high school and I didn’t want to take that away from her – but I really wanted my dream to come true. She said, ‘You’re really talented, and I think this could be good for you.’ “

Along with “Akeelah,” Palmer has been in “Barbershop 2: Back in Business,” as Queen Latifah‘s niece; “Madea’s Family Reunion”; and the TNT movie “The Wool Cap,” plus guest spots on “ER” and “Cold Case.”

So far, “Akeelah” has been the highlight.

“You can’t laugh when I tell you what scene I couldn’t wait to do,” she says.

And, after a pause: “The kissing one,” in which she gets a smooch on the cheek from fellow kid actor J.R.Villarreal.

Her mother rolls her eyes: “But they kept laughing the whole way through it.”

The birthday bunch

Actor Glenn Ford is 90. Singer Judy Collins is 67. Singer Rita Coolidge is 61. Actor Dann Florek (“Law and Order: SVU”) is 55. Actress Maia Morgenstern (“The Passion of the Christ”) is 44. Singer Tim McGraw is 39. Actor Darius McCrary (“Family Matters”) is 30.