Keala Settle

Biography

Keala Settle is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Awards & won the nomination at the Golden Globe Awards.

She is popular for voicing soundtracks -"The Greatest Show", "Come Alive", "This Is Me". She has acted in movies like Hall American: Forbidden, The Greatest Showman, Ricki and the Flash and other projects like TV series The Big C and the video Walmart: The Box.

Childhood- Family

Keala Joan Settle was born on 5th November 1975 in Laie, Oahu, Hawaii, United States to Maori (Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungunu) mother Susanne Riwai & David Settle(father) a British. She has four siblings and all are younger to her.

Her name is pronounced "Ki-ya-la"

She was 2 year old when her interest in music started, her mother would put VHS on TV so that she could sing along, her mother was a singer and had a band in New Zealand for about 7-8 years.

Education

• Kahuku High School: She studied at the Kahuku High & Intermediate School, located in Kahuku CDP, Honolulu, Hawaii. She grduated from the high school in 1994.
• Southern Utah University: She graduated from the Southern Utah University.

Career

Filmography

Movies

TV Series

Theatre

Video Games

Music Video

Discography

Albums/ Extended Play

Singles/ Songs

Facts & Trivia

• This Is Me: Keala Settle's song "This is Me" for the film The Greatest Showman eventually won the Grammy Awards, and was nominated for the Academy Awards. The song made Top 5 in the UK charts, Top 10 in Australia, South Korea and Malaysia. She was backed up by a large ensemble of Janet Jackson, Pink, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga's dancers. It made Keala very happy.
  
• Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: Preiscilla, a 2011 musical is the first ever musical of Keala, Keala played Shirley in the musical.
• Hands on a Hardbody: a musical based on SR Bindler's movie of the same name, it was directed by Neil Pepe and featured Keala Settle, it was among the first opportunities that made Keala popular. The musical also featued Allison Case, Hunter Foster, Jon Rua, Keith Carradine, Mary Gordon Murray.
• The Greatest Showman: Keala's greatest success came with the musical movie The Greatest Showman which starred Zac Efron, Hugh Jackman and Zendaya, Keala played Lettie Lutz. The song "This is Me" sung by Keala won her the Golden Globe Award while getting an Academy Award nomination
• Forbidden(2018): An visual album by Todrick Hall containing 15 songs, the song "Forbidden" in particular was against homophobia. Keala features in that.
• Musicals: some of the broadway, off-broadway and other musical appearances Keala has made so far include: 
  • Les Misérables(Madame Thenardier)
  • Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (as Shirley)
  • Hands on a Hardbody(as Norma)
  • Waitress (as Becky)
  • Hairspray(as Tracy Turnblad)
  • South Pacific (as Bloody Mary)
  • A Christmas Carol (as Mrs. Fezziwig)
  • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
  • Jesus Christ Superstar
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): For her role in The Greatest Showman (2017) as the bearded lady Lettie Lutz , Keala researched the about the disease, the disease has no cure yet.
• She is very critical of Donald Trump, she often retweets tweets critical of him
• Pets: She has a pet dog in Iaay, a bernedoodle.
• As a little girl she had extraordinary memory when it came to songs, she would memorize all disney songs
• The Greatest Showman Audition: Keala had been a fan of Shoshana bean and she knew Shoshana had auditioned for the role in "The Greatest Showman", Keala rejected to even audition for the role, The director and Hugh Jackman had to get her drunk on Jamo to even agree to accept the audition

Activism & Philanthropy

• Covenant House.org: Keala supports the non-profit organization which saves the kids in homeless crisis. It focuses on the homeless teens, and supports them in every step of recovery. they also fight human trafficking and provide legal support.
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Quotes

• [About singing] I was 2 year old and my mother could not shut me 
• I just want people to look after each other, to bring them back to base when we lose place.
• I actually love flying, I wish to fly more than I do.
• [About her life in the Island] My parents tried to make us civilized, but you know, it’s a rock in the middle of the ocean
• Music was always a part of my life, It has molded who I am and what I do today
• It takes a damn village to get a show on Broadway
• Music brings me so much joy and I am so grateful for it
• [About her Drama Desk Award nomination] I just got up, and it felt like Christmas Day….It's amazing.
• [About award nomination] I feel like I’m eight years old and Santa got me everything I asked for on my list
• We are living the human condition, and it's okay.
• Growing up I didn’t know where I fit it because I was an interracial child, so I turned to music.

Awards & Nominations

Sources

1. Keala Settle on wikipedia
2.