10 Leading Actors Whose Careers Never Took Off

8. Keisha Castle-Hughes

Whale Rider Keisha Castle-Hughes blew us all away with her startling performance in the 2002 film Whale Rider, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress at the mere age of 12. The expectation was that, as is the hope with most child stars, she would blossom into a similarly brilliant adult actress, though as we all know, that is rarely the case. Castle-Hughes did score a brief role as the Queen of Naboo in Star Wars Episode III, though soon thereafter fell pregnant with her boyfriend's baby, something which garnered huge worldwide media attention (and shamefully, a wealth of ire towards the actress). Sadly, these days her chequered private life tends to garner more press than her movies, and it's been at least two years since she's starred in anything remotely noteworthy (the Australian smash hit Red Dog).
 
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Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.