Q’orianka Waira Qoiana Kilcher (born February 11, 1990) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Pocahontas in the 2005 film The New World.
Kilcher was born in Schweigmatt, Germany; she speaks English, some German and some words of the extinct Powhatan language, an Algonquian language (which she learned for her part in The New World). Her name means “Golden Eagle” in Quechua. Her father is a Peruvian artist of Quechua/Huachipaeri descent. Her mother, Saskia Kilcher, a human-rights activist of Swiss descent, was born in Alaska and raised in Switzerland. Kilcher’s maternal grandfather was Ray ‘Pirate’ Genet, a famous Alaskan mountaineer. She is a cousin of Grammy-nominated singer Jewel Kilcher.
When she was two, her parents moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where her brother, Kainoa, was born. Her father, from whom she is now estranged, was absent for much of her early life. Kilcher was inspired by the local Hawaiian dancers and trained… read more
Q’orianka Waira Qoiana Kilcher (born February 11, 1990) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Pocahontas in the 2005 film The New World.
Kilcher was born in Schweigmatt, Germany; she speaks English, some German and some words of the extinct Powhatan language, an Algonquian language (which she learned for her part in The New World). Her name means “Golden Eagle” in Quechua. Her father is a Peruvian artist of Quechua/Huachipaeri descent. Her mother, Saskia Kilcher, a human-rights activist of Swiss descent, was born in Alaska and raised in Switzerland. Kilcher’s maternal grandfather was Ray ‘Pirate’ Genet, a famous Alaskan mountaineer. She is a cousin of Grammy-nominated singer Jewel Kilcher.
When she was two, her parents moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where her brother, Kainoa, was born. Her father, from whom she is now estranged, was absent for much of her early life. Kilcher was inspired by the local Hawaiian dancers and trained in West African and Hawaiian dance, performing in over 250 dance contests by the age of nine, earning money to support her family. She subsequently moved with her family to California, where she busked on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
In 2002, she appeared on Star Search singing “Adagio”, but came in second place, with one of the judges, Naomi Judd, commenting that she needed vocal lessons. Although she has had little acting training, she was cast in the leading role of Pocahontas in 2005’s Academy Award-nominated motion picture, The New World. The film was released in December 2005 to mixed reviews. The film was a critical success, garnering several positive reviews and award nominations, but was shown in only 811 theaters worldwide and yielded a relatively low box office gross.The film’s love scenes between Colin Farrell and the then 14-year-old Kilcher caused some controversy, resulting in the film studio deleting several scenes with Farrell to avoid child pornography accusations.
In summer of 2006, Q’orianka began filming the independent film The Power of Few which she is also producing through her own production company, Entertainment On-Q.
She returns to Hawaii as Princess Ka’iulani in the film Barbarian Princess: The Story of Princess Ka’iulani. Marc Forby directed and is due to be released in 2010.
In the past, Kilcher has campaigned on behalf of Amnesty International, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and petroleum industry contamination of the Amazon River Basin. Kilcher is a teen celebrity spokesperson for Thursday’s Child, a charity for at-risk children, where she has taken it upon herself to address issues concerning children and such topics as anorexia, bulimia, teen suicide, cutting, runaways, teen pregnancy and missing and exploited children.
In addition to public activism, Kilcher is a silent advocate for the environment, driving a Honda FCX Clarity, a hydrogen fuel cell zero-emissions vehicle. Kilcher stated that she had never pumped a single gallon of gasoline. On June 11, 2009 she visited Lima to support a march in defense of the rights of indigenous peoples by the current problems in the Amazon city of Bagua, Peru. —Wikipedia
