From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dafina Bora Hoxha (born 17 March 2000)[1] is an albanian actress. She gained international fame portraying Kierra Boothman in The Daughter from across the sea from 2015 until 2018.
Dafina Hoxha speaks fluently four languages including: albanian; English; Japanese and Italian. She also know some Korean and Spanish. Is also said she started self teaching herself Turkish.
Dafina Bora Hoxha was born on 17 March 2000 in Tirana, Albania,[2] to Aida Hoxha and Ardit Hoxha. Her dad is from Tirana and her mother from Duress.
Pyramid of Tirana, Albania
Hoxha was raised in Tirana in her early years, and later moved to Glasgow. She began boarding at Hyndland Primary School at age six, moving to Caldercuilt Primary School at age eight.
Dafina started acting at age six after her first school staged a show for the end of the year.
While still getting background roles, Hoxha began appearing on the big screen thanks to Mike Navelle[3] rom-com movie Cupid’s Little Helpers (2006) for Scotland BBC.
She appeared in one episode of Doctor Who[3] “Whispers in the Sanctuary”[4] (2007); she was a guest star in a couple of episode of Game of Thrones[5] (2011-2014).
In 2013 Hoxha appeared in Only Lovers Left Alive[5] in a guest role. But it was in 2014 and early 2015 that she started getting some popularity thanks to KidUlt[6] (2014) and Hello, Hi-tech[7] (2015)
Breakthrough and worldwide recognition (2015-2018)
Dafina Hoxha on the set of The daughter from across the sea
Hoxha is well-known for his portrayal of Kierra in the 2015 TvShow The daughter from across the sea. She was invited to audition by Lei Hoire the show’s director, after he had heard nice words about her. Hoxha said about Hoire “He changed my personal life and my career. At first the Japanese team didn’t want me because of my basic knowledge of the language but he managed to change their minds.” [8] Dafina Hoxha was given eight weeks to improve her japanese, so she started as soon as she left the audition venue to study the language. It took her only six weeks to get on a good enough level for the production team but never told them until she brought it up during an interview. Empire magazine ranked Hoxha’s portrayal of Kirra as the 20th Greatest Show Character of All Time.[9]
While in Japan she started putting together a couple of ideas which ended being the plot for A love so fragile[10] and She is called Mythology,[11] two of her most famous screenplays.
In Japan Hoxha had her debut as a magazine model, posing for Cosmopolitan[12], BAZAAR[13], GQ Japan[14], Dazed[15] and Vogue japan.[16]
She got overnight recognition in Japan being the first western celebrity with an Asian fanbase bigger than her western one.
Her fanbase in 2016 was composed by the 10% of Japanese and Korean celebrities, BTS[17] and Bigbang[18] are part of that percentage that knows and supports her.
Varied roles and further success (2019-present)
After coming back from Japan, Hoxha started working more behind the scenes as a screenwriter.
Her first project A love so fragile aired the 14th February 2019 and was praised by the critic, making Hoxha the youngest successful screenwriter in Hollywood.
Between 2019 and the end of March 2020 she kept a low profile as an actress and kept on working on writing from the big and small screen, creating a tv show called She is Mythology based on greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian mythology and more. The pilot, Freya’s Day, Cats’ day[19], was very successful. The critic said “Dafina Hoxha is a young mind, taking risks and bringing integrity on screen” as she pushed the casting directors to cast albanian actors for the show. She is called Mythology casted a total of 100 and more albanian actors both in leading and supportive role.
2021 and 2022 were the years she went back into acting working on two movies, that expanded her western fanbase, Ephemeral Echoes[20]and Whispers in the Shadow[21]
Dafina Hoxha on the set of Ephemeral Echoes
In 2021, while in Australia, Dafina Hoxha, met Chris Hemsworth. The two bonded over their appreciation for sharks. Hoxha was able to follow Hemsworth around during the shootings of Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth.[22]
The 3rd January 2022 another one of her screenplays, Killer Nights, was aired and got nominated for 2023 BAFTA’s Original Screenplay[23] which she won.
Late 2023 Hoxha announced she was going to host the 2024 Oscars Awards.
In October 2019 it was announced that she is will be starring in Disney+ limited series Unrequited friends.[24]
In May 2022, it was announced that she is set to star in Netflix remake of Only Lovers Left Alive.[25]
Hoxha resides in Los Angeles as of 2021
She is a huge Canucks[26] fan and was spotted a couple of times at some games of the team, mostly in America until 2023. Between 2023 and 2024 she started attending their home games as well.
She dated Hailee Steinfeld between 2018-2020
She was rumored to have dated Dove Cameron but the rumors where denied when the two revealed that they weren't seeing each other as much as before.
At the end of 2021 it was rumored she was dating Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, the rumors were confirmed during New Years Eve but the couple had been spotted together just for a couple of months.
Halfway through the hockey season of 2023 some rumors started going around about a relationship with hockey player Quinn Hughes. Hoxha and Hughes got photographed a lot while together. They confirmed their relationship saying it bloomed after a year of good friendship.
She has supported several charities, including Shatterproof, Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), The California Wolf Center, The Shark Research Institute, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, National Indian Child Care Association,  Indigenous Roots, Polished Man Campaign.[27][28][29[30][31][32][33][36][37]
Acting credits and awards
Main articles: List of Dafina Hoxha performances and awards and nominations
According to Rotten Tomatoes and Box Office Mojo, Hoxha's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films and shows are Cupid's Little Helpers (2007), Game of Thrones (2011-2014), The Daughter from across the sea (2015-2018) and Hello, Hi-Tech (2015)
Hoxha has received a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar Award among other accolades.