Keisha Castle-Hughes Pic of the Day

Women Are Finally Taking Back the Power on 'Game of Thrones'—Meet the Badass Who's Leading the Charge

Welcome, Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene Sand—the newessssst badasssssss women of Game of Thronesssss. (Get it? Sand Snakes, you guys.) We briefly met the pissed-off daughters of the late Oberyn Martell on Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones and, well, they're The Best. They fight, they torture jerk ship captains, and they only care about one thing: revenge. Which they plan on seeking, along with Ellaria Sand, on poor little Myrcella Lannister.

Keisha Castle-Hughes plays take-no-bullshit oldest sister Obara—here, she tells us what we can expect from these goddesses. And then we imagined a world where they were BFFs with Arya Stark and everything was perfect.

Marie Claire: So we got a glimpse of Obara Sand this past Sunday's episode—and we're dying to know more/everything.

Keisha Castle-Hughes: "Obara Sand is the eldest of all the Martel's daughters, the Sand Snakes. She's a warrior monk, which means that she meditates on her actions as much as she kills people, which sounds like it doesn't work at all, but in Dorne, it makes perfect sense. She wields the same weapon of his father, Oberyn Martell, the spear, which is the Dornish weapon as well. She takes great pride in who she is and where she's from, and although she comes across initially as like she's quite emotionally unavailable, and cold and stern, it's not like she doesn't feel anything. She's just very controlled with her emotions. She's taking the death of Oberyn very hard—she cried a lot of stoic tears over it. She's grown up with her father who spent his entire life waiting to avenge the death of his sister, and so this is what she knows: If you lose a family member at the hands of someone else, they must pay."

MC: So dramatic!

KCH: "We nicknamed her 'drama Obara.' She loves the sound of her own voice."

MC: The female characters of GoT wield the least power (technically) in this fictional guy-dominated society—but the women actually seem much stronger. How will the Sand Snakes fit in?

MC: The female characters of GoT wield the least power (technically) in this fictional guy-dominated society—but the women actually seem much stronger. How will the Sand Snakes fit in?

KCH: "Absolutely! I mean, we could have a whole other discussion—but what I'm most excited about is that we haven't seen women who work together—the only other kind of sibling relationships we've seen were Sansa and Arya who when they were together were extremely cruel to each other and had very different outlooks on how each other should behave—like this. These three girls are all very supportive of each other. These are the general sibling stuff that exists, which was really important for us three as actors to play because we wanted them to be real people. Of course they are going to be annoyed with each other. Like the youngest sister is going to irritate the eldest, and Nymeria and Tyene fight a lot, but when it comes to fighting for the common cause of avenging their father, they are still all on the same page. At this point, Obara would literally work with anyone who would avenge her father's death."

MC: But is it fair to go after Myrcella since she's totally innocent?

KCH: "Oh, absolutely! I think of the three, Obara is the least concerned with the details. Obara is just like, An eye for an eye however it happens."

MC: What kind of fight training did you do to prepare for the role?

KCH: "From the get-go, I started studying the martial art of Wushu, which really lends itself to that concept of Obara being a warrior monk. So much of martial art is about the physicality as it is about your state of mind. Because she is a very stern and hard character, it was really important that in playing her that she didn't come across as just cold and dead inside. There was still a person in there. And an inner peace; all of her decisions come from the right place. And so Wushu was a huge help in that."

MC: Fantasy Got alliance?

KCH: "In my ideal world, I would really, really love to see the Sand Snakes work with Arya Stark. That would be the most badass combination, and it would make so much sense. Definitely not a Lannister."

MC: So, without ringing the spoiler alert alarm, what can we expect from the Sand Snakes this season?

KCH: "Lots of badassery."

Happy Mother's Day from Keisha Castle-Hughes World

Keisha Castle Hughes TBT

Keisha Castle-hughes -the Whale Rider Movie Premiere at the Ucg Haymarket and Party 2003

Game of Thrones season 5, episode 4: Sons of the Harpy (spoiler)

Keisha Castle-Hughes made a dramatic entrance into Game of Thrones, spearing a man through the head before the episode was out.

As Obara Sand, one of the three Sand Snakes and daughter of Prince Oberyn of Dorne (he who died an implausibly horrific death last season at the hands of The Mountain), Keisha Castle-Hughes got the most screen time of all the sisters.

Wearing a snug leather breast-plate and a fierce scowl, the former Whale Rider star was plausible as a deadly warrior, set on vengeance against the Lannisters for the death of her father. She ended her empassioned monologue by skewering a dude's head with her spear, getting her point across in the most grisly way available. Nice one, Keish.

Keisha Castle-Hughes quotes #15

It feels kind of strange knowing that I rule the whole planet of Naboo and I'm only thirteen.

At first, my face—because it was really white—was a bit of a shock. But when the whole costume was put together and the headdress was put on, I really felt proud, like a Queen.

(Keisha, on her small role in Star War Episode 3)

Meet the Oscar Nominee Playing the Newest Female Badass on Game of Thrones

No longer the little girl from Whale Rider, Keisha Castle-Hughes is back, and bringing her weapon with her.

Every April, Keisha Castle-Hughes gathers with her friends for a Game of Thrones viewing party. For last year's season premiere, she wanted to dress up as Daenerys Targaryen and dragged her friend around Hollywood Boulevard looking for the famous Khaleesi costume to wear to the party. “My friend had never watched the show and didn't understand why I was running around looking for a crazy blond wig,” she recalls. "I spoke to her a couple of weeks ago, and now she's all caught up so she can watch me while I'm on it. She's like, ‘People will soon be dressing up as you for their parties.’ It's mind-blowing.” The New Zealand actress, who was once the youngest best-actress Oscar nominee in Hollywood history, is the newest cast member to join HBO's juggernaut series for Season 5. Introduced in this Sunday’s episode, she plays Obara Sand, a deadly, spear-wielding warrior seeking vengeance against the Lannister family for the death of her father, Prince Oberyn Martell. Since her breakout role in Whale Rider at the age of 12, Castle-Hughes has worked steadily and appeared mostly in New Zealand television shows and indie films. She also became a teen mother when she gave birth to her daughter at 16. But her role on Game of Thrones has relaunched her career and cemented her passion for acting. “When I was nominated for an Oscar, I didn't know whether or not to be an actor. It was something that I just did,” Castle-Hughes, 25, tells VF.com from her cozy Los Angeles apartment on a March morning. “I didn't understand the concept of what acting really was. To receive recognition at that level and not understand it is like working backwards. Now I know that I want to be an actor. I have realized that I am intrinsically designed to do this, and nothing else satisfies the hunger that I have.”

As a fan of the Game of Thrones books as well as the show, she knew there would be a need for ethnic-looking actresses after Prince Oberyn Martell from Dorne (played by Chilean actor Pedro Pascal) turned up last season. “I started to do some investigating and asked my manager to keep an eye out for any Game of Thrones casting calls, and sure enough, there was one for Oberyn's daughters, known as the Sand Snakes.” Since landing the role last May, Castle-Hughes admits, “I was immediately drawn to Obara. She's the oldest of all the Sand Snakes, and I am the oldest of five siblings, so I understood that dynamic very well.” Castle-Hughes describes her character as “ruthless, badass, dangerous, and thirsty for Lannister blood,” but she also has compassion. “She's a daughter who adores her father and misses him. She isn't one to cry, but what she wants in life is to be exactly like him and to make him proud,” the actress says. “She also has love for her sisters. Obara looks after them; but they fight, they are annoying, and they drive her crazy. She has love in her heart, deep down under all the armor.” One part of what makes her character so intimidating is her wardrobe. Obara and her sisters wear armadillo-skin-like chest plates with nipples that give them seductive and alluring looks, which keep their enemies off guard. “Obara wears her armor 24/7," Castle-Hughes notes. "She always wants to be ready for battle.” As for the nipples: “It’s Game of Thrones! You still have to keep it sexy,” she laughs. Though, she’s relieved that she won't have to be nude on screen. “Oh my gosh, to think how many people watch the show, like my fifth grade teacher or the parents of my daughter’s friends, that would be embarrassing,” she admits. “I’m so happy that Obara doesn't have an ounce of sexuality!”

Castle-Hughes’s career began at the age of 11 when a casting agent discovered her at school in Mount Wellington, New Zealand. With no previous acting experience, she beat 10,000 other young girls to star in Whale Rider as a fiery and courageous Maori girl who is the heir of her tribe, even though her grandfather believes that the chief role is only for males. Her performance earned rave reviews which led to an Oscar nomination—making her the youngest nominee ever in that category, until Quvenzhané Wallis, at age nine, was nominated for her work in Beasts of the Southern Wild in 2013. “It’s surreal and crazy to look back on that time. I didn’t know what the Oscar really meant,” she admits. “No one anticipated the success the movie would have. My mum and I were thrown into the craziness. Because I was so young, it was almost kind of traumatic, and you shut it away. The attention was so much at one time, but at the same time it was super exciting.” She remembers riding in a limo for the very first time, receiving her first manicure, getting red-carpet ready with the help of famous hairstylist Frederic Fekkai, and staying at luxurious five-star hotels. “I can understand how fame can negatively affect someone. You can easily get caught up with the perks and forget what reality is.” Once awards season wrapped, Castle-Hughes returned home to Auckland and went back to school. “That was my saving grace. I had somewhere to go after the Oscars where people were normal. I was out of the spotlight.” That didn't last long. After appearing in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith as Queen of Naboo, in 2005, she portrayed the Virgin Mary in 2006’s The Nativity Story. Once the film wrapped, Castle-Hughes, at 16, made a surprise announcement: she was expecting a baby with her then boyfriend of three years, Bradley Hull, who was 19 at the time. Her pregnancy set off a media firestorm as critics condemned her for being too young to raise a child and also for being pregnant out of wedlock. “I kind of felt like a dirty girl who had done something wrong,” she remembers of the negative reactions to her pregnancy. “No one was happy for me. I didn’t want to become the poster girl for teenage pregnancy, but I wasn’t focused on that or what other people were thinking. I just did the best I could. I was really young to have a baby, and I don’t really advocate that, but I made the best of it and tried to turn it around.”

She gave birth to daughter, Felicity-Amore Hull, on April 25, 2007, and, although her pregnancy was a “complete surprise,” there was no question of whether or not to have the baby with Hull. “Once I found out I was pregnant there was no decision. I was shocked, but it was like, ‘O.K., we are having a baby.’ Then we had to get into action mode quickly,” she says. “Having Felicity was the best thing that ever happened to me. Yes, I was very young, but I knew I had a good support system from my family. It really does take a village to raise a child. I couldn’t have done it without them.” Castle-Hughes ended her engagement to Felicity’s father in 2010 and was dogged by rumors that she was, in her own words, “New Zealand’s own Lindsay Lohan.” As she describes it, “I was very much a normal teenager. I got drunk when I was in high school at parties a couple of times and smoked a few cigarettes, but that's it.” Now an adult with an eight-year-old, married to writer Jonathan Morrison for two years, Castle-Hughes is using her experience as a teen mom to help other young parents. She volunteers with the nonprofit organization called Thrive in New Zealand, which provides support and resources for teen parents to succeed while caring for an infant. “One of the most important things I've learned and tell people is that having a baby is a little road bump, but not a roadblock,” she says. “Your life doesn’t have to stop. You can still get yourself educated and follow your dreams.”

Today that dream includes both conquering TV’s hottest shows—she also made a recent cameo on AMC’s The Walking Dead—and dipping a toe into the world of comedy. She recently started training at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles for four days a week to brush up on her comedic skills. “The idea of doing improv terrifies me, but I want to do it because I like putting myself out there and trying new things and exploring new ideas,” she says. “I’m grateful I have the time right now, and it gives me a little distraction from choosing what to wear to the Game of Thrones premiere. I can’t dress up as Khaleesi like I did for the viewing party!”

by: Paul Chi for Vanity Fair