Keisha Castle-Hughes | Asian American Women Who Conquered Hollywood
AAPI Heritage Month: Miyoshi Umeki first Asian Oscar, Keisha Castle-Hughestrailblazers. Celebrating influential AAPI women in entertainment history
Keisha Castle-Hughes | Asian American Women Who Conquered Hollywood
Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month: Trailblazing Women in Entertainment
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, honoring the contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders throughout U.S. history. We're spotlighting influential AAPI women like Miyoshi Umeki and Ming-Na Wen who've shattered barriers in Hollywood.
✨ From Lucy Liu to Ming Na Wen, these AAPI heritage trailblazers have made significant contributions to the entertainment industry and the AAPI community. Join us in celebrating their accomplishments!
AAPI Heritage Month is held every May to reflect on and celebrate the work and impact of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders throughout history.
Celebrate AAPI Month with us as we highlight the achievements of influential women in entertainment! From Miyoshi Umeki's historic Oscar win to Lucy Liu's impact on pop culture, we're recognizing the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by spotlighting these amazing women and Ming Na Wen.
Keisha Castle-Hughes
Keisha Castle-Hughes is the second-youngest best actress nominee in Oscars history.
Keisha Castle-Hughes (born 24 March 1990) is a New Zealand actress. She made her acting debut in the drama film Whale Rider (2002), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the second-youngest nominee in such category. Her subsequent films include the biblical drama film The Nativity Story (2006) and the teen film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger (2008).
Some of her other roles have included Hana Gibson on CBS's "FBI: Most Wanted," Obara Sand on "Game of Thrones," and the voice of Dr. Emerie Karr in "Star Wars: The Bad Batch."
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 Indigenous actress, after Merle Oberon and Jocelyne LaGarde, to be nominated for an Oscar.
At 13 years old, Castle-Hughes became the youngest person nominated for best leading actress at the Academy Awards. (This record was later broken by Quvenzhané Wallis who was nominated at age 9.)
