Q'orianka Kilcher Biography
Born: February 11, 1990
Date of Birth: February 11, 1990
Q'orianka Kilcher was born in Schweigmatt, Germany to a Swiss mother who was raised in Alaska, and a Quechua/Huachipaeri Indian father from South America.
When Q'orianka was just two, she and her mother settled in Hawaii. After seeing a Shirley Temple movie on TV, she began taking singing, dancing and acting lessons, and began singing on the street when she was six, with a portable tape machine providing accompaniment. By the time she was nine, had performed more than 250 live shows at various locations, including major hotels. Q'orianka won Best Overall Talent in a local talent competition and was awarded Ballet Hawaii's Young Choreographers Award at the age of seven. She also starred as Amahl in a production of Gian Carlo Menotti's opera Amahl and the Night Visitors.
In 1999, Q'orianka's family relocated to Los Angeles. After their motor home broke down and her sound equipment was stolen, the L.A. Times ran a story about the family's plight, which led to her signing with the William Morris Agency. Q'orianka soon landed a small role as a choir member in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, (2000) directed by Ron Howard. A few years later, at the age of 14, Q'orianka was chosen to play the lead role of Pocahontas in The New World (2006), opposite Colin Farrell as John Smith. Her younger brother Kainoa Kilcher also landed a small role as a warrior in the film.
Q'orianka followed that up with the title role in the drama Princess Kaiulani(2009), playing alongside Barry Pepper and Will Patton. Her performance earned her the Invisible Woman Award from the 2010 Women Film Critics Circle Awards. She also won Best Actress at the Native American Film Festival Of The Southeast.
In 2010, she made guest appearances on four episodes on the hit TV series Sons of Anarchy. Small-screen appearances followed on shows such as Longmire and The Life before she experienced her busiest year in 2015, with roles in filmes such as Sky, Ben & Ara, and Unnatural.
In 2017, she played a supporting role alongside James Franco in The Vault , before doing the same with Christian Bale for the western drama Hostiles (2017). Q'orianka played Mary Palmer on the Netflix series The Alienist in 2018, starring Daniel Brühl and Luke Evans. The following year, she was cast as Inca Princess Kawillaka in Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019).
A second cousin of country singing star Jewel, Q'orianka lives with in Los Angeles, where she enjoys writing music, horseback riding and sailing in her spare time.
Filmography:
Hostiles (2017)
The Vault (2017)
Te Ata (2016)
Unnatural (2016)
Sky (2015)
Ben & Ara (2015)
Blaze You Out (2013)
The Power of Few (2013)
Shouting Secrets (2011)
Princess Ka’iulani (2009)
The New World (2006)
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)