Keisha Castle-Hughes, pictured with boyfriend Bradley Hull last year. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Keisha Castle-Hughes, pictured with boyfriend Bradley Hull last year. Picture / Brett Phibbs

She finished filming the role of the Virgin Mary in a hot new Hollywood movie only weeks ago, and now 16-year-old Oscar-nominated Kiwi actress Keisha Castle-Hughes has announced she is pregnant.

The Auckland teenager, who played feisty Paikea in one of New Zealand's most successful films, Whale Rider, is to give birth next year to her first child after a three-year romance with childhood sweetheart, Bradley Hull, 19.

And Castle-Hughes' New Zealand agent Gail Cowan says the couple couldn't be happier.

"They are extremely happy about it. Totally. It's a baby," Cowan told the Herald on Sunday yesterday.

Family members spoken to yesterday said Hull was genuinely excited about the pregnancy.

"Who cares if she is only 16?" said one family member, who did not wish to be named.

But others aren't so sure whether Castle-Hughes and Hull quite understand what lies in store for them.

National MP Paula Bennett, a mother at 17, said whichever way you looked at the situation, 16 was far too young to have a baby.

She believed there was no way a 16-year-old had the maturity to cope with the demands of raising a baby.

"You should be worried about pimples, boyfriends and going out, not bringing up a child."

How the pregnancy will affect Castle-Hughes' career is another question. Her role in the coming-of-age black comedy Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger, alongside Toni Collette, could now be jeopardy. In the film, Castle-Hughes - who left Papakura's Rosehill College last year - is supposed to star as a 13-year-old girl trying to fit into both a posh private school as well as an ordinary public school.

Castle-Hughes and her mother Desrae were out of the country and could not be contacted for comment yesterday, while Hull could also not be reached.

However, there have been concerns in the past about the age difference of the couple. Hull was not allowed to accompany Castle-Hughes to the Academy Awards in 2003 because the actress' representatives reportedly had concerns about the age difference. The two met in high school.

Since Whale Rider, which saw her become the youngest nominee ever for a Best Actress Oscar, Castle-Hughes has gone on to star as Queen of Naboo in last year's Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. She followed this up by appearing in Prince's Cinnamon Girl music video. She has also appeared in Vanity Fair magazine and recently completed work on The Nativity Story.