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- 10,000 Kids Auditioned For The Role of Pai
- Caro Immersed Herself in The Maori Community to Write The Script
- But Not Everyone Wanted A White Woman to Make The Movie
- Castle-Hughes Lied About Being Able to Swim to Get The Part
- Most of The Cast Were Local Whangara Residents Who’D Never Acted Before
- The Famous Whale-Beaching Scene Was A Mix of CGI and Real Whales
- Castle-Hughes Was “Terrified” to Film The Titular Whale-Riding Scene
- Caro insisted That Castle-Hughes Stay Barefoot The Whole Time
- Castle-Hughes Filmed The Crying Scene in Just One Take
- Castle-Hughes Saw The Movie 31 Times After It Opened
While it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Castle-Hughes in the role of Pai, Caro and her casting team auditioned 10,000 girls for the lead part. In a 2003 interview with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Castle-Hughes revealedthat casting director Diana Rowan asked her to audition during a visit to her school. The young actress was asked if she could ...
Whale Rider was based on Maori writer Witi Ihimaera’s 1987 novel The Whale Rider, and Caro adapted the book for the big screen. To make sure she was representing Maori culture as correctly as possible while writing Whale Rider’s script, Caro — a white native New Zealander — made sure to immerse herself fully into that world. As she revealed in a 20...
When it was announced that Caro would direct Whale Rider, some people expressed their belief that a white woman shouldn’t be the one telling the story of a Maori girl. One such critic wrote an editorial in a local Maori magazine calling Caro out, which “devastated” the director, she told Stuff. Still, she felt confident in her vision for the film, ...
Since so much of Whale Rider takes place in the water, including the climactic scene toward the end when Pai rides the whale into the sea, it was crucial that the movie’s main actress be able to swim. Yet at the time of auditioning, Castle-Hughes could not — but she told Rowan that she could anyway. “I told little white lies along the way,” she exp...
Although a few professional actors, like Rawiri Paratene (Koro) and Cliff Curtis (Porourangi), took on roles in Whale Rider, the majority of the movie’s cast (including Castle-Hughes) was composed of locals who happened to live in Whangara, where the film was shot and set. This fact just added to the movie’s authenticity and gave the community a ch...
One of the most memorable scenes from the film is when a number of whales are beached near Pai’s home, and the villagers try and fail to get them back in the water — only for Pai to get on the back of the largest whale to help guide it into the sea. To film the heart-wrenching scene, Caro and her team used a mix of CGI, footage of real whales, and ...
In the behind-the-scenes video, the actress said that the scene of her riding the large whale into the water was just as intense and scary as it looked. Not only did they film 15 to 20 miles offshore, but the water was also apparently freezing, making an already hard challenge even trickier. “I remember the pressure would just pull you back,” Castl...
To help Castle-Hughes really feel like Pai and part of her village’s community, who often walk barefoot, Caro asked the actress to go shoeless the entire length of the shoot — even when the cameras weren’t on. It took some time for the preteen to get used to it, but eventually she grew to enjoy the feeling.
The scene in which a nervous, overwhelmed Pai gives a tear-filled speech at her school about her village’s Maori traditions and her grandfather’s rejection of her is one of Whale Rider’s finest moments, and impressively, Castle-Hughes needed only one take to get it right. “I had to go to feelings you don’t often go to, especially someone my age,” s...
Perhaps no one is a bigger Whale Rider fan than its star. In the Star-Bulletininterview, which came out just months after the film’s release, then-13-year-old Castle-Hughes excitedly revealed that she’d seen the movie 31 (!) times. Even more, she knew exactly how many tickets it was selling at the box office and how many weeks it’d been No. 1. Who ...
May 17, 2024 · The movie “Whale Rider” is a masterpiece that captivates audiences with its powerful storytelling and brilliant performances. Directed by Niki Caro, this 2002 film takes viewers on a magical journey into the world of Paikea, a young Maori girl with a deep connection to her ancestral roots. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of New ...
Jun 29, 2020 · Whale Rider is just a beautifully told, intimate story about family, legacy, and the aforementioned little girl who wants nothing more than to please her grandfather and continue the family line of Chieftans that she derives from. The way Whale Rider interweaves the epic tales of the character’s ancestors with the humble, almost run-down ...
- Vincent Greene
People also ask
Is Whale Rider based on a true story?
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What makes 'Whale Rider' a great movie for a 12-year-old girl?
Jun 20, 2003 · The genius of the movie is the way is sidesteps all of the obvious cliches of the underlying story and makes itself fresh, observant, tough and genuinely moving. There is a vast difference between movies for 12-year-old girls, and movies about 12-year-old girls, and "Whale Rider" proves it. The movie, which takes place in the present day in New ...
Whale Rider: Directed by Niki Caro. With Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis. A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
- Niki Caro
- 2 min
Jun 7, 2003 · Movie Review: 'Whale Rider' From the Maori culture of New Zealand comes Whale Rider, a film with an appealing 11-year-old central character. She's seeking to follow in her father's footsteps as ...
Jun 16, 2003 · Caro's "Whale Rider," which opens Friday in Bay Area theaters, was embraced by the Maori upon its release in New Zealand, where the movie became the country's top box-office draw before being ...
