The famous New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes climbed the ladder of fame with her breakthrough performance as Paikea in, ‘The Whale Rider’. She has now filled up an impressive collection of media appearances with respectable roles in Game of Thrones, Red Dog and The Nativity.  She’s full of energy with a smile always on her face, always working on a new project whether it is on the big screen or campaigning for Greenpeace, you can always find her doing what she loves.

Keisha was only just 18 months old when she moved to New Zealand with her family in 1991. It was in 2003 at the young age of eleven when Keisha debuted into the world of film.  Widespread talking of Keisha’s critically acclaimed performance in The Whale Rider spread fast and because of this she gained lots of publicity receiving multiple awards and nominations. The most notable of which coming in 2004 when Keisha was nominated for the Best actress in the 76th Academy awards ceremony. Unfortunately Keisha didn’t win the award but she did set the record for being the youngest person at the time to be nominated for the best actress award, as well as this she was only the second Polynesian actress to be nominated for an Oscar.

Keisha Castle-Hughes entered cult films with a small but respectable role as Queen Apailana in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.  She once again joined another major franchise in 2015 where she joined the illustrious, star-studded cast of the hit television series Game of Thrones as Obara Sand in season five. Keisha Castle-Hughes is a well-respected actress as shown from her performance in the Nativity Story where she played the Virgin Mary.  From this performance A. O. Scott (A New York Times critic), 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.” Keisha’s talents in the film industry are unprecedented as she is a unique actress with a serious work ethic and a strong up beat personality.

Keisha was a truly inspirational person I was lucky enough to meet. We snapped a quick photo together and had a small chat about her current plans, I told her about my interest in Journalism she was enlightened to hear about my plans and told me to stick at it and work hard, so I pass that on to you too. Keisha is a hard worker with the achievements to support her as a strong source of inspiration.