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Keisha Castle-Hughes

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Keisha Castle-Hughes
Castle-Hughes at a press conference for The Vintner's Luck in September 2009
Born (1990-03-24) 24 March 1990 (age 34)
Donnybrook, Western Australia, Australia
OccupationActress
Years active2001–present
Spouse
Jonathan Morrison
​
​
(m. 2013; div. 2016)​
Donny Grahamer
​
(m. 2021)​
PartnerBradley Hull (2003–2010)
Children2

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 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 in the 2006 film The Nativity Story. In 2015, she joined the cast of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones in Season 5 as Obara Sand.[1]

Early life

Castle-Hughes was born in 1990 in Donnybrook, Western Australia to a Māori mother, Desrae Hughes, and Tim Castle, an Anglo-Australian father.[2][3] Her family moved to Auckland, New Zealand 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.[4]

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 Auckland 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 nomination for Best Actress at the 76th Academy Awards. Although she did not win the Best Actress award (it went to Charlize Theron for Monster), 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" music video and with a shoot in Vanity Fair magazine. In 2004, Castle-Hughes was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[5]

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 in The Nativity Story. New York Times 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."[6] The Christian-themed film earned only $8 million during its opening week, but its box office surged during the week of Christmas.[7]

In 2008, Castle-Hughes appeared in the Australian comedy-drama film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger, which was filmed in late 2006.[8]

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,[9] and she also played a recurring role as Axl's flatmate in The Almighty Johnsons 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.[10]

In 2015, she joined the cast of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones in Season 5 as Obara Sand.[1] She pursued a role on the show in part because she is a fan of the books.[11] 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.[11]

Beginning in 2020, Castle-Hughes has played Hana Gibson, an FBI analyst, on CBS's FBI: Most Wanted.

In February 2023, Simpson guest voiced Emerie Karr, the Imperial administrator of the Mount Tantiss facility, in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.[12]

Activism

Castle-Hughes campaigned for Greenpeace as part of the SignOn.org.nz climate campaign in 2009. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key 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.[13]

Personal life

In October 2006, when she was 16, it was announced that Castle-Hughes and boyfriend Bradley Hull were expecting a child together.[14] Their daughter was born in 2007.[14] Castle-Hughes and Hull broke up in 2010 after seven years together.[4][15]

In 2012, Castle-Hughes began dating Jonathan Morrison. After six weeks together, the couple became engaged in August 2012.[16][17] Their wedding took place on Valentine's Day 2013. They were divorced in December 2016.[18]

In early 2014, Castle-Hughes revealed that she has bipolar disorder, in the wake of television personality Charlotte Dawson's suicide.[19]

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.[20][21]

Filmography

Film and television
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Whale Rider Paikea Nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress.
2005 Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Queen Apailana of Naboo
2006 The Nativity Story Mary
2008 Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger Sunni
2009 The Vintner's Luck Celeste
2009 Piece of My Heart Young Kat TV movie
2010 Legend of the Seeker Maia / The Creator Episode: "Creator"
2011 Mika's Aroha Mardi Gras Self TV Special
2011 Vampire Jellyfish
2011 Red Dog Rose
2011–2013 The Almighty Johnsons Gaia Series Regular - seasons 1-2, Recurring - season 3
2012 Rewind Priya TV movie, post-production
2013 The Stolen Aroha
2014 The Walking Dead Joan Episode: "Slabtown"
2014 Queen of Carthage Simi Film
2015–2017 Game of Thrones Obara Sand 8 episodes
2016 Roadies Donna Mancini Series regular
2017 Thank You for Your Service Alea
2017 Find Your Voice Princess
2017 Manhunt: Unabomber Tabby Milgrim
2018 On the Ropes Jessica Connor TV miniseries
2019–2020 FBI Hana Gibson 2 episodes
2020–present FBI: Most Wanted Main role
2023 Star Wars: The Bad Batch Emerie Karr 2 episodes

Accolades

Year Award Category Work Result
2003
 New Zealand Film Awards Best Actress Whale Rider Won
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Best Actress Nominated
2004
 Academy Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Best Actress Nominated
Most Promising Performer Won
Chlotrudis Awards Best Actress Nominated
Critics Choice Movie Awards Best Young Actor/Actress Won
Gold Derby Film Awards Best Lead Actress Nominated
Breakthrough Performance Won
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Breakthrough Performer Won
Phoenix Film Critics Society Best Performance by a Youth - Female Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated
2007
 Young Artist Awards Best Leading Young Actress - Feature Film The Nativity Story Nominated
2009
 Qantas TV and Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Piece of My Heart Won

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Game of Thrones season five cast announced at Comic Con!". Watchers on the Wall. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  2. ^ Andrea LeVasseur (9 April 2015). "Keisha Castle Hughes". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Keisha Castle-Hughes Biography". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  4. ^ a b Jonathan Marshall; Stephen Cook (8 October 2006). "From Virgin Mary to mum". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Academy Invites 127 To Membership". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 30 June 2004. Retrieved 28 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ The Virgin Mary as a Teenager With Worries The New York Times. 1 December 2006.
  7. ^ "The Nativity Story (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
  8. ^ "For Keisha, the show must go on". The Adelaide Advertiser (News.com.au). 22 October 2006. Archived from the original on 23 December 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  9. ^ "A Visit to the Set of 'Vampire' with Star Kevin Zegers - Bloody Disgusting!". Bloody Disgusting!. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Keisha Castle-Hughes to star in zombie smash". New Zealand Herald. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Keisha Castle-Hughes on joining Game of Thrones and playing a 'warrior monk'". Watchers on the Wall. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  12. ^ Young, Bryan (1 March 2023). "The Bad Batch Continues An Important Storyline From Star Wars The Clone Wars". Slash Film. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Keisha and Key may talk over tea". Dominion Post. 11 August 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  14. ^ a b "Introducing Felicity-Amore Hull – Keisha speaks about her labor, delivery, and new little girl". People. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Keisha in Oscar night assault". New Zealand Herald. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  16. ^ "Keisha Castle-Hughes engaged". 3 News. 30 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  17. ^ Caroll, Joanne; Land, Emma (2 September 2012). "Keisha's wedding shock after six-week romance". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  18. ^ "What the gossip mags say". Stuff. 18 February 2013.
  19. ^ Lu, Anne (22 February 2014). "Keisha Castle-Hughes Opens Up About Bipolar Disorder Following Charlotte Dawson's Death". International Business Times. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  20. ^ "Newlywed Keisha Castle-Hughes is pregnant". Stuff. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Keisha Castle-Hughes welcomes baby girl". 17 June 2021.

Further reading

Rangiahua, Sonny. Māori in media. Cambridge, N.Z. : Kina Film Productions, ©2003. OCLC 489299539.

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