As my regular readers may have noticed I like to break up the monotonous narration of my life in paradise with an “Amazing Human” or Birthday person or two now and then. In this case she’s both an “Amazing Human” and a birthday girl (or young woman, if she prefers). Her unusual name is Q’orianka Kilcher, and if you are lucky you may have seen her (at 14 years of age) playing opposite Colin Farrell in Terence Malick’s “The New World”. Though largely a success with critics the film passed through theaters like grease through a goose.You would have sworn she was a bonafide Native American, but her lineage is more complicated than that, as you will see in the Wikipedia materials to follow. What caught my eye even more than her obvious beauty (which I failed to capture in my sketch) was her resume of accomplishments, quite startling for one so young (22), and her dedication to activism for humanitarian and environmental causes.
Wikipedia:
Kilcher was born in Schweigmatt, Germany. Her name Q’orianka means “Golden Eagle” in Quechua. She speaks English and some German. She learned some words of the extinct Powhatan language, an Algonquian speech, for her part in the film The New World.
Her father is of Quechua-Huachipaeri descent from Peru. Her mother, Saskia Kilcher, is a human-rights activist of Swiss descent, born in Alaska and raised in Switzerland. Q’orianka has two brothers, Kainoa Kilcher and Xihuaru Kilcher, who both work as actors and stunt performers. Kilcher’s maternal grandfather was Ray ‘Pirate’ Genet, a famous Alaskan-born mountaineer, and her mother’s cousin is Grammy-nominated singer Jewel Kilcher.
When Kilcher was two years old, she and her mother moved to Kapaa, Hawaii, where her brother Kainoa was born. Her father, from whom she is estranged, was absent for much of her life. Growing up in Hawaii, Kilcher was inspired by the local society and started hula dancing at the age of five years. She also trained in Tahitian dance and West African, as well as ballet, Hip Hop and Modern Dance. In 1997 Kilcher won Ballet Hawaii’s Young Choreographer Award at the age of seven years.
She was selected to compete at the international Tahitian Dance Competition in San Jose, California in 1996 and 1997. She performed in over fifty professional dance performances island wide. As member of the Waikiki Singers, she was chosen to be the Soprano Soloist, performing Schubert’s Mass in G and Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti. At the age of six years, Kilcher was the first child to study classical voice at the University of Hawaii with Laurance Paxton. She also studied Drama with Bill Ogilvie at the Diamond Head Theater. At six years, her mother booked her at venues as featured singer and opening act to some of Hawaii’s greats, such as Willie K among others.
In 1999, her mother moved the family to California. Kilcher started to showcase her talent busking on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
At the age of nine years, Kilcher was cast as “Choire Who” in Ron Howard‘s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. At twelve years, she received a full scholarship to the Hollywood Musician Institute, where she studied vocal performance, music theory and song-writing and accomplished Blackbelt in Wushu, Kung Fu and Stunt performer and has trained at the National Wushu Training Center and Impact Stunts.
At the age of fourteen years, Q’orianka emerged into the front ranks of young actors with her portrayal of Pocahontas opposite Colin Farrell and Christian Bale in director Terrence Malick Academy Award-nominated motion picture, The New World (2005). Her performance won her the National Board of Review‘s best breakthrough performance of 2006, the 2006 Alma Award for best Latin American actress in a feature film, numerous other award nominations. The film was released in December 2005 to mixed reviews. The film was a critical success, garnering several positive reviews and award nominations, but it was shown in only 811 theatres worldwide. It yielded a relatively low box office gross.
The film’s onscreen love affair between Colin Farrell and then fourteen-year-old Kilcher was a sensitive topic. Studio lawyers insisted that some scenes be reshot to comply with preadolescent erotica laws.
In the summer of 2006, Kilcher began filming the independent film The Power of Few, which she produced through her own production company, Entertainment On-Q. She played the title role in the feature film Princess Kaiulani. The film, about the United States’ overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, was released in May 2010.
In 2009, Kilcher performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of common people in the U.S., based on historian Howard Zinn‘s “A People’s History of the United States“.
In 2010, Kilcher portrayed Kerrianne Larkin, daughter of Chibs Telford and Fiona Larkin in the television series Sons of Anarchy.
In 2011, Kilcher played Tiger Lily in Neverland, a version of the Peter Pan story that aired on the SyFy Channel.
Kilcher has made a commitment to human rights and environmental activism. She speaks on behalf of various causes to achieve what she regards as environmental justice and basic Human Rights. Traveling frequently to speak at youth events, colleges and universities, Kilcher has been a featured keynote speaker for organizations such as Amnesty International, the I.F.G. International Forum on Globalization, Amazon Watch IFIP and The United Nations panel discussions entitled “Indigenous Peoples: Human Rights, Dignity and Development with Identity”, in collaboration with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
