She loves Baz Luhrmann films, has a degree in history from UCLA and was high school valedictorian of her class aged only 13.
Kay Panabaker is not your average teenager. Nor is she your average teen actor.
Yet that's exactly what she plays in her latest role as Jenny, a student in the most famous (albeit fictitious) high school on earth " the New York City High School of Performing Arts " in the new Fame.
While she is adamant the film is not