Keisha Castle-Hughes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Keisha Castle-Hughes
Castle-Hughes in 2009
Born	(1990-03-24) 24 March 1990 (age 35) Donnybrook, Western Australia, Australia
Nationality	New Zealand (from 2001)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2001–present
Spouse(s)	Jonathan Morrison ​ ​ (m. 2013; div. 2016)​ Donny Grahamer ​ (m. 2021)​
Partner(s)	Bradley Hull (2003–2010)
Children	2

Keisha Castle-Hughes (born on March 24, 1990) is a talented actress from New Zealand. She first started acting in the movie Whale Rider in 2002. For this role, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. This made her one of the youngest people ever nominated in that category!

Keisha has also starred in other movies like The Nativity Story (2006) and the teen film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger (2008). She is known for her strong performances on screen.

Early Life and Background

Keisha Castle-Hughes was born in 1990 in Donnybrook, Western Australia. Her mother, Desrae Hughes, is Māori, and her father, Tim Castle, is Anglo-Australian.

When Keisha was four years old, her family moved to Auckland, New Zealand. She became a New Zealand citizen in 2001. She went to Penrose High School and later graduated from Senior College of New Zealand in Auckland.

Keisha's Acting Journey

Starting with Whale Rider

In 2002, Keisha Castle-Hughes made her acting debut in the film Whale Rider. She played the main character, Paikea Apirana, also known as Pai. Before this movie, Keisha had no acting experience at all! She went straight from her school in Auckland to the film set.

Her performance in Whale Rider was highly praised by critics. In 2004, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress at the 76th Academy Awards. Even though she didn't win, at just 13 years old, she became the youngest person nominated in this category at that time. She was also one of the first Indigenous actresses to be nominated for an Oscar.

Other Early Roles

After Whale Rider, Keisha appeared in Prince's music video for "Cinnamon Girl." She was also featured in Vanity Fair magazine. In 2004, Keisha was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This is the group that votes for the Oscars!

In 2005, Keisha had a small role as Queen Apailana in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

Playing Mary in The Nativity Story

In 2006, Keisha took on the important role of the Virgin Mary in The Nativity Story. A critic from New York Times said she played the role with "poise and intelligence." The critic noted that Keisha showed Mary as a thoughtful teenager with a huge responsibility.

Later Film and TV Work

In 2008, Keisha starred in the Australian comedy-drama film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger. She filmed this movie in late 2006.

She worked again with New Zealand director Niki Caro on the film The Vintner's Luck. This movie first showed internationally in September 2009.

Keisha also appeared in the Japanese horror film Vampire. She had a recurring role as Axl's flatmate in the TV show The Almighty Johnsons, which started in 2011. In the same year, she played Rosa, a veterinary assistant, in the film Red Dog.

In 2014, Keisha had a guest role in the American TV series The Walking Dead. She played a character named Joan.

Joining Game of Thrones

In 2015, Keisha joined the cast of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones for Season 5. She played the character Obara Sand. Keisha was a big fan of the books the show is based on. She found out she got the role the night her character's on-screen father died in the show. She felt a strong emotional connection to that scene.

Recent Roles

Since 2020, Keisha Castle-Hughes has played Hana Gibson. Hana is an FBI analyst on the CBS show FBI: Most Wanted.

She also returned to the Star Wars world by voicing Dr. Emerie Karr. This character is an Imperial scientist and a clone of Jango Fett. She voiced this character in Seasons 2 and 3 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

Activism and Causes

In 2009, Keisha Castle-Hughes worked with Greenpeace. She campaigned for their SignOn.org.nz climate campaign. This campaign focused on climate change issues.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key first told her to "stick to acting." However, Keisha said she knew a lot about the issues. A week later, he offered to talk about them with her over tea.

Personal Life

In October 2006, when Keisha was 16, it was announced that she and her boyfriend, Bradley Hull, were expecting a child. Their daughter was born in 2007. Keisha and Bradley broke up in 2010 after being together for seven years.

In 2012, Keisha started dating Jonathan Morrison. They got engaged in August 2012, after knowing each other for only six weeks. They got married on Valentine's Day in 2013. However, they divorced in December 2016.

In early 2021, Keisha married Donny Grahamer in New York City. A month later, she announced she was expecting her second child. Her second daughter was born in June of that year.

Film and Television Roles

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Keisha Castle-Hughes para niños

• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations