Keisha Castle-Hughes, a New Zealand actress, was born on March 24, 1990. She is known for portraying Queen Apailana in Star Wars_: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and providing the voice for Emerie Karr in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Born in Donnybrook, Western Australia, Keisha Castle-Hughes' mother, Desrae Hughes, is Māori with ancestry from Ngāti Porou, Tainui, and Ngāpuhi. Her father, Tim Castle, is Australian. At the age of four, Castle-Hughes and her family relocated to Auckland, New Zealand. She officially became a citizen of New Zealand in 2001.
Castle-Hughes was a student at Bailey Road School and later attended Penrose High School.
For her performance in the movie Whale Rider, Castle-Hughes was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2004. Although she didn't win, at the time she was the youngest nominee for the award, and only the second Polynesian ever nominated for an Oscar. However, she did win the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Actor/Actress for the same role.
Also in that year, Castle-Hughes was featured in Prince's controversial music video, "Cinnamon Girl."
In 2006, Castle-Hughes acted alongside Oscar Isaac in The Nativity Story, playing Mary while Isaac played Joseph. In 2009, Castle-Hughes appeared with Rena Owen (who played Taun We in Episode II and Nee Alavar in Episode III) in the TV movie Piece of My Heart. She portrayed the younger version of Owen's character. In 2011, Castle-Hughes also shared the screen with Rohan Nichol (who played Captain Raymus Antilles in Episode III) in the film Red Dog, and with Rachael Leigh Cook (the voice of Jaesa Willsaam in the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game) in the film Vampire in the same year.
From 2015 to 2017, she was in Game of Thrones with Jessica Henwick. In 2016, she participated in Roadies, a television series created by J.J. Abrams, including an episode directed by Jon Kasdan.
- Casting Update: Two More for III on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Homing Beacon #161 – Revenge's Royalty on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch — " Tipping Point "
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch — " Plan 99 "
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch — " Confined "
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch — " Shadows of Tantiss "
- "Metamorphosis" Episode Guide | The Bad Batch on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Keisha Castle-Hughes on Doctor Emerie Karr and The Bad Batch Season 2's Cliffhanger on StarWars.com (backup link)
- "I Was Genuinely Devastated": Michelle Ang Talks Spoilers for The Bad Batch Season 2 Finale on StarWars.com (backup link)
- This Week! in Star Wars The Bad Batch Finale, Ahmed Best Talks Jedi, and More! on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch's Executive Producers Gear Up for One Last Mission on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Keisha Castle-Hughes on Wikipedia
- Keisha Castle-Hughes at the Internet Movie Database
- Keisha Castle-Hughes ( @YoItsKeisha ) on Twitter (backup link (YoItsKeisha) not verified!)