1990 - Not dead yet.
Keisha Castle-Hughes was born on the 24th of
March 1990, in
Donnybrook,
Western Australia. Her mother is Desrae Hughes, a
New Zealand Maori, who imparted a strong female presence in her daughter. Her father is Tim Castle, a former
Australian Rules player-turned-sheet metal worker. Her parents are now, unfortunately, divorced. She has two younger brothers, Rhys the elder, and Liam the younger.
At the age of four, Keisha and her family moved from Australia to New Zealand.
The casting director and the casting assistant for the movie Whale Rider discovered her when she was 12 years old, when they visited her primary school in Mt. Wellington, New Zealand. Keisha was chosen out of several hundred to star in the main role of Paikea. She was found only because of being a total smartass. Needless to say, she stood out, and that paid off in the end. She fulfilled her dream of becoming an actress.
Keisha had never been in a film before Whale Rider. She late confessed to Jay Leno in an interview that before the movie, she didn’t even know how to swim.
Keisha was brought into the world’s spotlight when she became the youngest woman ever nominated for the Academy Awards as the Best Actress in a Leading Role.
She currently attends Penrose High in Glen Innes, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. Her tribal heritage extends to the Ngati Porou, the Tainui, and the Ngaphui. She also is a big fan of Johnny Depp.
sources:
http://www.keishacastlehughes.com/ - The Official Keisha Castle-Hughes site.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1095720/bio - Her Internet Movie DataBase biography.
Another interesting piece: Keisha is to play the
Queen of Naboo in
Star Wars Episode III.