Keisha Castle-Hughes
Interview by Nicole Holland
For her debut film, Whale Rider, Academy Award® nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes was the youngest person to be nominated for an Academy Award® Oscar in the “Actress in a Leading Role” category. Fast-forward a year after the nomination, to the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, and Keisha made her Cannes debut at the premiere of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. This year, Keisha’s film, Red Dog, will feature as part of Essential Entertainment’s Marché du Film line-up.
With a total of six films under her belt, Keisha is now starring in a new indie ‘tween/coming-of-age Aussie gem, Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger, opposite Academy Award® nominee/Golden Globe Award and Emmy Winner, Toni Collette. Nominated for four Australian Film Institute Awards, and an Official Selection of the Berlin International Film Festival, the film will have its North American theatrical release this spring, with a DVD release slated for July 13, courtesy of Monterey Media Inc.
Anticipating the pending North American theatrical release of Esther Blueburger, Independent Film Quarterly’s Nicole Holland, caught up with Keisha to discuss adolescence, her most challenging role to date, and her involvement with Greenpeace.
IFQ: How did you come on board the film, Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger? Did you initially read for the role of Sunni?
Keisha Castle-Hughes: It was the first script I read that really spoke to me after I had done Whale Rider. I read the script a long time before we shot, and wanted to play Sunni immediately. When I read it the first time, it was very dark and grungy. The script did change a lot during those three years. Obviously, it had to be suitable for an audience, though, so the script did develop.
IFQ: The film is a coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old girl on an endless quest to fit in. As a teen, did you ever feel like an outcast like Esther, or did you identify more with your character, Sunni? If so, how?
KCH: There were parts of both characters that I related to personally. Being a teenager is no easy feat; doing it in the face of the public makes it a little bit harder. I certainly had moments through my teenage years of feeling like an outcast: not knowing where I fit in, or who I was. Like Esther, and like Sunni, I had times where I felt like the responsibility of being an adult was too much and would yearn to be a child again.
IFQ: Most coming-of-age movies and novels feature a leading male protagonist, such as Napoloean Dynamite, Gilbert Grape, Holden Caulfield, and most recently, Jamal Malik in Slumdog Millionaire. Director Cathy Randall made Blueburger because of the lack of positive female teenage-role-models in movies. Why did you accept the role of Sunni?
KCH: I accepted the role of Sunni because she was a true depiction of a young, teenage girl that I understood and related to. Not in the sense it was someone I knew personally, but she was a true depiction of girls I saw all around me — at school and in the world.
IFQ: Continuing on this thread, what are your personal thoughts on Sunni? Which of your own qualities did you bring to the table in this particular role, if any? In addition, who or what inspired your portrayal?
KCH: Sunni is a young, teenage girl who was never allowed to be a child, because of her circumstances. She has a very tough exterior, with an underlying vulnerability that starts to crack through. I knew going into the role that having inner-strength was vital to the portrayal of Sunni, yet also maintaining youthfulness, especially around the way she moved.
IFQ: This film is Cathy Randall’s feature film directorial debut. What was it like working with a first time filmmaker?
KCH: The script and film was Cathy’s baby. She put years into the writing, the funding, the development, and eventually, the shooting. There is always frustration when something takes so long, but on the flip side, it gave Cathy the time to have a very clear vision of how she wanted the film to look. In all my experience, this was the only time when what I watched on screen was exactly what had been in the script.
IFQ: What’s been your most challenging role to date, and why?
KCH: Celeste, in The Vinter’s Luck, with Niki Caro was challenging. I played a character who ages from 16 years old to 40 years old. The physical aspect of playing someone over their lifetime was a challenge, and also all the different emotional phases over such a long period of time.
IFQ: At an early age, you worked with Director Niki Caro on Whale Rider. Furthermore, you recently worked with her again on The Vinter’s Luck. How was your rapport with her on set now, versus when you were younger?
KCH: When I shot Whale Rider, I was 11 years old, still a child. Niki and I maintained a very close relationship over the years, so being able to work with her in my first ‘adult’ role on-screen was such a blessing. She is a very talented woman, with incredible vision in all the work she does. I have a lot of love and respect for her as a director, and more importantly, as a beautiful human being.
IFQ: Without having any previous acting experience, what did you learn from making your first film? After the completion of Whale Rider, in what ways did you grow as an actor?
KCH: Making a film at such a young age was amazing. When you are a child, you don’t question as much. You trust the adults around you – that they are not letting you do things that will jeopardize you as an adult, so there is an incredible freedom in that. I wasn’t scared to ask questions, sometimes annoyingly so! I would ask what everything was, why they used it, how it worked, and what it would produce.
IFQ: You are the youngest person to have been nominated for an Academy Award® Oscar in the “Actress in a Leading Role” category. How do you feel the Oscar® nomination affected the kinds of material sent your way, as well as your criteria in choosing parts afterwards?
KCH: The Oscar® nomination was such a surprise. Down here in New Zealand, we don’t have the Daily Variety or Hollywood Reporter to keep up with every movement of the awards, or progress of films. I am so grateful, because it opened a lot of doors for me as an actor. However, after all the hype, I chose to take a break, go back to school, start my own family, and maintain as normal a life as possible. I am forever in debt to my beautiful family and friends for helping me do that.
IFQ: How did you make the initial leap from New Zealand and Australian films to American films? Which do you prefer and why?
KCH: My first American experience was a cameo on Star Wars. It was only a couple of days at the FOX Studios in Sydney, but it was a great learning ground. I can’t say I prefer either; both have their pros and cons – like everything in life. Working at home in New Zealand is obviously a big bonus, but it can sometimes be a lot harder financially, as we don’t tend to produce big budget productions.
IFQ: Finally, and off subject, can you tell me about your involvement with Greenpeace, and how you came about getting involved with that environmental organization?
KCH: I was bought up with a great respect for the Earth. A lot of that has to do with my cultural background and just being born to a ‘hippy Mama’. Once I started my own, wee family, and moved out into the big world alone, I realized that not everyone around me held my knowledge or respect for Mother Nature. I was given an opportunity with Greenpeace to use my ‘celebrity’ to help raise awareness about climate change in New Zealand and took it. I am so proud to be a part of this organization, and will continue working with them in whatever way I can.
* Photo Credit: Monterey Media Inc.