Keisha Castle-Hughes (born 24 March 1990) is an Australian-born New Zealand actress who rose to prominence for playing Paikea "Pai" Apirana in the film '' Whale Rider''. She was nominated for several awards, including the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...

( the second youngest person nominated in the Best Actress category) and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Actor/Actress, which she won. Castle-Hughes has appeared in various films including '' Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger'', '' Piece of My Heart'' and '' Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith''. She also performed as

Mary of Nazareth Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

in the 2006 film '' The Nativity Story''. In 2015, she joined the cast of the HBO TV series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of '' A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the fir ...

'' in Season 5 as

Obara Sand George R. R. Martin's ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' saga features a large cast of characters. The series follows three interwoven plotlines: a dynastic war for control of Westeros by several families; the rising threat of the superhuman Others beyo ...

Early life

Castle-Hughes was born in 1990 in Donnybrook,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

to a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

mother, Desrae Hughes, and Tim Castle, an Anglo-Australian father. Her family moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

when she was four years old. She attained citizenship in 2001. Castle-Hughes attended Penrose High School and graduated from Senior College of New Zealand in Auckland.

Career

In 2002, Castle-Hughes made her debut in the film '' Whale Rider'', in which she played the main role of Paikea Apirana (Pai). She had no previous acting experience and went directly from her

school classroom to the film set when the shoot began in New Zealand in late 2001. Castle-Hughes received widespread critical acclaim for her performance, and in 2004 she received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for Best Actress at the

76th Academy Awards The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...

. Although she did not win the Best Actress award (it went to

Charlize Theron Charlize Theron ( ; ; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 20 ...

for ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

''), at age 13 she became the youngest person nominated in this category at the time and the second Polynesian actress, after Jocelyne LaGarde, to be nominated for an Oscar. She soon followed the role by appearing in Prince's controversial "

Cinnamon Girl "Cinnamon Girl" is a song by Neil Young. It debuted on the 1969 album ''Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere'', which was also Young's first album with backing band Crazy Horse. Songwriting Music Like two other songs from ''Everybody Knows This ...

" music video and with a shoot in ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

'' magazine. In 2004, Castle-Hughes was invited to join the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

. In 2005, Castle-Hughes had a small part as Queen Apailana in '' Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith''. In 2006, she portrayed the starring role of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

in '' The Nativity Story''. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' critic, A. O. Scott, said that she "seemed entirely unfazed by the demands of playing Mary. She had the poise and intelligence to play the character not as an icon of maternity, but rather as a headstrong, thoughtful adolescent transformed by an unimaginable responsibility."The Virgin Mary as a Teenager With Worries
''The New York Times''. 1 December 2006. The Christian-themed film earned only $8 million during its opening week, but its box office surged during the week of Christmas. In 2008, Castle-Hughes appeared in the Australian

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film '' Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger'', which was filmed in late 2006. Castle-Hughes reunited with New Zealand director Niki Caro for the film adaption of '' The Vintner's Luck'', which had its international premiere in September 2009. Castle-Hughes starred in the Japanese horror film ''

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

'', and she also played a recurring role as Axl's flatmate in ''

The Almighty Johnsons ''The Almighty Johnsons'' is a New Zealand fantasy comedy/drama television series, which was created by James Griffin and Rachel Lang and was produced by South Pacific Pictures and aired from 7 February 2011 to 23 September 2013. Production ...

'' which premiered in 2011. In 2011 Castle-Hughes also played a minor part in the film '' Red Dog'' as Rosa the veterinary assistant and wife of Vanno. In 2014, Castle-Hughes had a guest role in the American television series '' The Walking Dead'' in which she played Joan. In 2015, she joined the cast of the HBO TV series ''

'' in Season 5 as

. She pursued a role on the show in part because she is a fan of the books. Castle-Hughes found out that she had won the role the night the Season 4 episode " The Mountain and the Viper" aired, in which her on-screen father's death was shown. She described having a very intense emotional reaction to the scene, because of the connection between the characters on the show. Beginning in 2020, Castle-Hughes has played Hana Gibson, an FBI analyst, on CBS's '' FBI: Most Wanted''.

Activism

Castle-Hughes campaigned for

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

as part of the SignOn.org.nz climate campaign in 2009. New Zealand Prime Minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...

initially admonished her to "stick to acting", but offered a week later to discuss the issues with her over tea after she maintained she knew more about them than he gave her credit for.

Personal life

In October 2006, when she was 16, it was announced that Castle-Hughes and boyfriend Bradley Hull were expecting a child together. Their daughter was born in 2007. Castle-Hughes and Hull broke up in 2010 after seven years together. In 2012, Castle-Hughes began dating Jonathan Morrison. After six weeks together, the couple became engaged in August 2012. Their wedding took place on Valentine's Day 2013. They were divorced in December 2016. In early 2014, Castle-Hughes revealed that she has

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevat ...

, in the wake of television personality Charlotte Dawson's suicide. In early 2021, she married Donny Grahamer in New York City. A month later she announced that she was pregnant with her second child, a daughter born in June.

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castle-Hughes, Keisha 1990 births Living people 21st-century Australian actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses Actresses from Western Australia Australian child actresses Australian emigrants to New Zealand Australian film actresses Australian people of English descent Australian people of Māori descent Australian television actresses Naturalised citizens of New Zealand New Zealand child actresses New Zealand film actresses New Zealand Māori actresses New Zealand people of Australian descent New Zealand people of English descent New Zealand television actresses People from Donnybrook, Western Australia People educated at One Tree Hill College People with bipolar disorder