Keisha Castle-Hughes (born March 24, 1990) is an actress from Glen Innes, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand.

Born in Donnybrook, Western Australia to a Maori mother and an Australian father, Castle-Hughes was four years old when her family moved to New Zealand. Her parents later separated.

On January 27, 2004, she became the youngest person ever nominated for the Academy Awards' Oscar for Best Actress, for her portrayal of Paikea Apirana (Pai) in the low-budget film Whale Rider. Despite not possessing any previous acting experience, the then 11-year-old Castle-Hughes went directly from her Auckland classroom to the set when the film began shooting in New Zealand in 2002. She received widespread critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance.

Her next scheduled role will see her as the Queen of Naboo in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about Keisha Castle-Hughes

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• Keisha Castle-Hughes http://www.keishacastlehughes.com/ , a fan site featuring details and a discussion board
• Keisha Castle-Hughes http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1095720/ at the Internet Movie Database
• Taking Rider in her stride http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3097740&thesection=entertainm
  ent&thesubsection=film&reportid=812592 , at The New Zealand Herald
• Whale Rider predicted to crest the wave http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3005245&thesection=entertainm
  ent&thesubsection=film&reportid=812592 , at The New Zealand Herald