Keisha Castle-Hughes 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. She also won an award at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Young Actor/Actress in 2004.

Since she made her film debut, Castle-Hughes has appeared in various films including Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger, Piece of My Heart, and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. She also played the main role of the Virgin Mary in the 2006 film The Nativity Story. In 2014, Keisha had a guest role in the American television series The Walking Dead, in which she played Joan.

She appeared in In 2015 she joined the cast of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones in Season 5 as Obara Sand.