Well, she's already been nominated, but I hope they vote for her...

The little lady I'm talking about is Keisha Castle Hughes, from 'Whale Rider', which I reviewed below. The studio had pushed for her to be nominated as a supporting actress, but it seems that the academy felt her outstanding performance was deserving a best actress nod, making her the youngest best actress nominee at 13 years old.

She was picked by the same casting agents who found Anna Paquin (who won Best Supporting actress). They found her in school, and chose her to be in 'Whale Rider', even though she had no prior acting experience. She even lied and said she was a good swimmer, just to get the part.

But by watching the movie, you can see that this young Jennifer Beals look-a-like is a natural. Just watching the emotions go through her face, with no words said, is amazing. Her nuanced emotion changes, sadness, stubborness, pride, determination give life to the movie.

I hope this little girl wins...she's got tough competition, and chances are that Charlize Theron is going to win...but I'd like to hope that the Oscar voters will give us a little surprise and give this gal a chance. And if not this year, I hope that she'll have many more chances in the future...

Posted by Yano at January 31, 2004 02:29 PM

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