Keisha Castle-Hughes (born 24 March 1990) is an Australian-born New Zealand actress who rose to prominence for playing Paikea "Pai" Apirana in the film Whale Rider. The film was nominated for many awards, including an Academy Award for Best Actress for which she was at the time the youngest person nominated in the Best Actress category and an award at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Young Actor/Actress, which she won in 2004.