Oscar-nominated child star Keisha Castle-Hughes, pictured in 2004, has announced she is pregnant to her teenage boyfriend and is to give birth next year.(File Photo)

Photo Gallery >>> BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- "Whale Rider" star Keisha Castle-Hughes, 16, is reportedly expecting a child.

The Oscar-nominated actress, who was born in Australia, is due this spring with what will be her first child, a representative for her confirmed to People magazine.

There's no word yet on the sex of the baby.

The father is her boyfriend of three years, Bradley Hull, 19.

In 2002, at just 12 years old, Castle-Hughes made her acting debut in the art-house hit "Whale Rider," a big screen adaptation of a Maori legend following a girl who worked against the gender conventions of her tribe to fulfill her destiny as chief.

The following year, she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar at the tender age of 13, becoming the youngest person in Academy history to receive a nomination in the category.

Castle-Hughes played the Queen of Naboo in last year's "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith." She will be seen next as Mary in "The Nativity Story," set for release Dec. 1. Enditem

(Agencies)