As Keisha Castle-Hughes gathered her closest friends around her for a cake-cutting ceremony at her 20th birthday party earlier this year, she admitted to them, “I know I’ve been a partyzilla about this birthday – in fact I think I’m having a quarter-life crisis! But I’m very grateful to you all and I appreciate you very much. Thank you for celebrating this with me.”
Turning 20 was a milestone in more ways than one and Keisha thought very carefully about which loved ones would be with her when she marked the occasion. The invitation to the exclusive Alice in Wonderland-themed celebration made it clear that it was tea that would be served, dressing up was mandatory, and security would be tight.
It was an opportunity, says Keisha, to thank those who have travelled the bumpy road to adulthood with her. And one of the very grown-up choices she has made on that road is a pledge to stop drinking. “My friends have been very respectful and supportive of my decision,” she says. “Most were very happy to drink iced tea with me!”
It was in November 2009 that a Kiwi publication ran paparazzi photos of Keisha leaving an AA meeting in Auckland. “That story was a huge blow,” admits Keisha, settling in for an exclusive chat with the Weekly. “Those pictures were taken the day after the New Zealand premiere for The Vintner’s Luck, although I was aware I’d been being followed for some time.
“The hardest part was that the story was so overwhelmingly negative. But for me, deciding not to drink was never a negative thing. It’s probably the most positive decision I have made in my life.”
And, says Keisha, the outcome of the story which outed her alcoholism was, ultimately, a constructive one. “Initially, no, it wasn’t easy to deal with” she confesses. “But at the same time, it was very liberating. All my dirty laundry has now been aired and I am free to just get on with my life. I am very happy about that.”
Keisha has long been spoken of, in entertainment circles, as the most mature actress of her generation. Listening to her talk about the very grown-up resolution to ban the bottle, it’s clear that she possesses a clear head for decisions and an innate wisdom.
She is candid when speaking about the many hurdles she’s faced in her two decades on this earth. The young mum (her daughter Felicity, to partner Bradley Hull, turned three in April) says she’s always considered herself a bit of an old soul. “I’ve never felt I fi t my age” she says. “I used to have conversations with people, and when they’d ask my age I’d absolutely cringe because anything I’d say after they knew I was only 17, 18 or 19 seemed to erase the entire conversation, even if it was an intelligent one! I often felt very dismissed. Now I’m 20 and I feel a lot more secure with that number!”
Since she made the international sensation Whale Rider almost 10 years ago – “I remember that experience like it was yesterday!” laughs the tousle-haired actress – Keisha has spent many weeks each year in Los Angeles, putting herself forward for roles in movies and TV shows.
Until her most recent trip, centred on oscars celebrations in early March, she dreaded the time away from home. “I’d been very resistant to it. Being there can be so soul-destroying – there’s a huge layer of pretentiousness and the city can have a lonely vibe. What I’ve learnt, though, is that under that layer of pretension is an amazing network of creatives, all desperately wanting to tell stories in their own ways.
“On past trips I’d be rushing to five or six auditions a day while Brad and Felicity waited outside in the car! The pay off would be that we’d take Felicity to Disneyland afterwards – a few days of theme-park madness to relieve our guilt that she’d been dragged along to work with Mama!”
But this time, she made the decision to travel alone. “If it wasn’t for my family being back in New Zealand I don’t think I would’ve come home! Having said that, there were times where being apart from Felicity was excruciatingly painful. I cried myself to sleep on a couple of occasions.”
So what made this trip different? “I guess I have built a great network of colleagues and friends over the years, so LA now feels a bit like a second home,” says Keisha. “This time around I stayed with my good friend Catherine [Hardwicke – the director of Twilight and The Nativity Story] and because all the oscars parties were happening that week, we made a deal to be each other’s date.
“One party we went to there was Jeff Bridges, Diane Lane, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffiths just hanging out inside the doors. At another party, I chatted to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.
“It was a lot of fun but I definitely felt like the girl who wasn’t supposed to be there! I had such a fantastic time. And at the end of my time there, a huge part of me didn’t want to leave LA. When I hopped on the plane home, I felt like my heart was breaking.”
Still, being back at home with her adorable daughter does have its advantages. “She’s gorgeous,” enthuses Keisha of her pre-schooler. “She loves dressing up and her favourite item of clothing is her pair of ‘pepeku’ tights – that’s her word for pukeko!” Felicity remains, says Keisha, a total daddy’s girl and the way she’s raised is one of the only bones of contention between Keisha and her partner.
“Brad and I disagree about it all the time. I grew up with total hippie parents so I just want to let her be a free-range kid – that’s defi nitely an outcome of my own upbringing. Brad’s stricter… yet he’s the one she always wants! The only time she’ll come to me is if he won’t let her do something.
“When she’s asking me for another lolly or more Wiggles on telly, I totally forget that Brad has probably alreadysaid no and she is coming to oama because I’m so soft. I just get so excited that she actually wants me for once!” Perhaps she has simply inherited her mother’s talent for drama? “Totally!” laughs Keisha who readily admits she is larger than life, just like her daughter. In fact, with her oad Hatter’s tea party only just behind her, she’s already planning her 21st.
“Last year it was a circus party with bobbing apples and cream-pie throwing. The year before that it was an elegant ball and before that it was Mardi Gras madness. And I want a cabaret show for my 21st.”
Keisha is currently balancing her responsibilities as a partner and mother with a guest role in Prime TV series Legend of the Seeker, a new Australian film Red Dog, and will soon head to Vancouver to star alongside Kevin Zegers and Rachael Leigh Cook in a film by prolific Japanese director, Shunji Iwai.
She also had an opportunity to follow another passion – costume design – working on the play Nga oanurere at the TAPAC theatre in Auckland. She admits she’s packed more into her 20 years than many do in 40. “My life is indeed like a Wonderland,” she smiles. “It’s colourful, convivial… and complex.”
And now that she’s celebrated the beginning of a new chapter with her friends and family, she’s both curious and excited about what adventures lie ahead.
“The last year has been an emotional rollercoaster,” Keisha says, “and I’m so thankful that my friends have carried me through it. There has been a lot of change and a lot of growth. And now I feel really well. My heart feels full. I’ve got so many great people in my life.”
