ALICIA KEYS: SOUL SINGER, ACTION STAR.Byline: - Bob Strauss Classically trained, the classiest of soul divas and classic beauty Alicia Keys is a class act by any measure. I mean, no less an eminence than Bob Dylan writes songs about her. It was inevitable that the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of prodigy would get movie offers. But instead of starting out as a nice, innocuous bit of romantic interest, the 11-time Grammy-winning artist opted for a screen debut that the toughest gangsta Noun 1. gangsta - (Black English) a member of a youth gang AAVE, African American English, African American Vernacular English, Black English, Black English Vernacular, Black Vernacular, Black Vernacular English, Ebonics - a nonstandard form of American English raptress might have thought twice about doing. In the ultra-violent, roughly comic caper caper, common name for members of the Capparidaceae, a family of tropical plants found chiefly in the Old World and closely related to the family Cruciferae (mustard family). ``Smokin' Aces,'' Keys plays Georgia Sykes, half of a hard-bitten, trash-talking, probably lesbian assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. team. She spends much of her screen time in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of an epic hotel hallway shootout Shootout Venture capital jargon. Refers to two or more venture capital firms fighting for the startup. , dressed in a trashy Nevada call girl disguise that accentuates her curves while camouflaging a small arsenal of guns and ammo. And she proves as strong and deadly as the dozens of guys she fights with. ``The minute that I read the script, I knew that it was so out of my normal character, so out of what so many people probably expected of me, that I knew it was the right thing for me to do,'' says Keys, who not only graduated from Manhattan's Professional Performance Arts School at the age of 16, but was her class valedictorian. Keys admits that the role wasn't the most comfortable acting job she could have chosen, and not just because of the thigh-high boots and skintight skin·tight adj. Fitting closely or clinging to the skin. skintight Adjective (of garments) fitting tightly over the body; clinging Adj. 1. hotpants. ``Anything that's worth it, I don't think comes easy,'' adds Keys, who just celebrated her 27th birthday. ``But with everything that I do, I want to give up my comfort zone.'' Keys' next movie is a slightly less, um, physically demanding part: She's co-starring with Scarlett Johansson in the film version of the best-selling expose ``The Nanny Diaries.'' And a new album is set for release in June. But there have been no negotiations, apparently, concerning a Dylan duet. ``I could not believe it,'' she says of finding out that she was name-checked, somewhat lustfully lust·ful adj. Excited or driven by lust. lust  ful·ly adv.lust , in ``Thunder on the Mountain,'' the lead track on the songwriting legend's last album, ``Modern Times.'' ``Totally not expecting it, obviously. He's such a lyrical genius, such a storyteller, a person who has so much history -- and as a writer myself, I admire him greatly. ``But I haven't called him,'' she says. ``I figure, certain things like that, it's better from afar.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (Alicia Keys) |
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