Young Keisha makes a splash

Keisha has won a Best Actress Oscar nomination in her first film role

Keisha Castle-Hughes, 13, became the youngest ever best actress nominee in the history of the Oscars in 2004.

Keisha Castle-Hughes was a complete unknown when she was picked to star in the hit New Zealand movie Whale Rider, about a young Maori girl's battle to win her grandfather's respect.

Just 11 years old at the time of filming, Keisha's nomination remains a remarkable achievement for a schoolgirl with no previous movie acting experience.

She was chosen from thousands in an extensive search by a casting director who visited her primary school in Mount Wellington, near Auckland.

Born in 1990 in New Zealand, she is half-Maori and half-Pakeha (European New Zealander).

She was discovered by the same agent who discovered Anna Paquin, the X-Men star who won the best supporting actress Oscar at the age of 11 for her role in The Piano.

'Overwhelmed'

Like Anna, Keisha Castle-Hughes had never starred in a movie before her appearance in Whale Rider.

"I was just speechless, I didn't know what to say," Keisha recalls of the moment she discovered she'd got the role of Pai.

"About two hours later I was running around the hotel just screaming. I was so overwhelmed."

She describes Pai as "very brave".

"Her life has been pretty sad for the past 11 years because although she's the first-born she's a girl and the tradition required a boy.

"This makes Koro, her grandfather, sad, but she loves him no matter how much he dislikes her, she loves him. And she'll do anything to make him happy."

"Keisha has an amazing ability to focus," says Niki Caro, the director of Whale Rider.

"Her depth was immediately apparent."

Keisha Castle-Hughes now looks set to follow in the footsteps of successful child stars like Natalie Portman. She will shortly be seen starring in Star Wars: Episode III as the Queen of Naboo.