Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985)
is an
English film actress. She began her career as a child and came
to international prominence in 2003 after co-starring in the films
Bend It Like Beckham
and the
Pirates of the
Caribbean trilogy.
Knightley
has appeared in several Hollywood
films and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best
Actress and Golden
Globe Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation of Jane
Austen's novel Pride and
Prejudice. Two years later she again was nominated
for the
Golden
Globe Award for Best Actress, as well as the
BAFTA Award for
Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in
Atonement.
In 2008, Forbes claimed Knightley to be the second highest paid
actress in Hollywood (behind
Cameron
Diaz), having reportedly earned $32 million in 2007, making her
the only non-American person on the list of highest paid actors or
actresses.
Early life
Knightley
was born in Teddington
, Greater
London
, England, the daughter of Sharman Macdonald, an award-winning
playwright, and Will Knightley, a
theatre and television actor. Her father is English, and her
mother is Scottish and of half Welsh ancestry. She has an elder
brother, Caleb, who was born in 1979.
Knightley lived in
Richmond
, attending
Teddington
School
and Esher
College
. She has
dyslexia,
but nevertheless was successful in school and was thus permitted to
acquire a talent agent and pursue an acting career. She requested
an agent as early as the age of three and got one when she turned
six, from her mother as a reward for studying hard. Knightley has
noted that she was "single-minded about acting" during her
childhood. She performed in a number of local amateur productions,
including
After Juliet
(written by her mother) and
United States (written by her
then drama teacher, Ian McShane, no relation to the
Deadwood actor).
Career
Knightley at the 2008 BAFTAs.
Knightley appeared in several
television movies in the mid to late
1990s—as well as
ITV1's
The Bill—before being cast as
Sabé,
Padmé Amidala's decoy, in the 1999
science fiction blockbuster
Star Wars
Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Knightley was cast in the
role due to her close resemblance to
Natalie Portman, who played Padmé; the two
actresses' mothers had difficulty telling their daughters apart
when the girls were in full makeup. Knightley's first starring role
followed in 2001, when she played the daughter of
Robin Hood in the made-for-television
Walt Disney Productions feature,
Princess of Thieves.
During this time, Knightley also appeared in
The Hole, a thriller that received
a
direct-to-video release in the
United States. She appeared in a
miniseries adaptation of
Doctor Zhivago that first
aired in 2002 to mixed reviews but high ratings.
Knightley's breakthrough role was in the
football-themed film,
Bend It Like Beckham, which was a
success in its August 2002 UK release, grossing $18 million, and in
its March 2003 U.S. release, grossing $32 million. After
Bend
It Like Beckham's UK release raised her profile, she was cast
in the big budget action film,
Pirates
of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (along with
Orlando Bloom and
Johnny Depp) which was produced by
Jerry Bruckheimer and opened in July 2003
to positive reviews and high box office grosses, becoming one of
the biggest hits of summer 2003 and cementing Knightley as the new
"It" girl.
Knightley had a role in the British
romantic comedy Love Actually, which opened in November
2003. Her next film,
King
Arthur, opened in July 2004 to negative reviews. In the
same month, Knightley was voted by readers of
Hello! magazine as the film industry's most
promising teen star. Additionally,
Time magazine noted in a 2004 feature
that Knightley seemed dedicated to developing herself as a serious
actress rather than a film star.
2005 saw the release of 3 films, the first of which was
The
Jacket. The complex thriller starring Adrien Brody was derided
by critics as unoriginal, silly and messy. Knightley was taken to
task for her American accent but was otherwise dismissed by
critics. Next came
Tony Scott's
Domino, an action film based
on the life of
bounty hunter Domino Harvey. The film has been Knightley's
greatest critical flop to date. Knightley's critics often suggested
she was nothing more than a pretty face, which led the young
starlet to comment to
Elle
magazine, "I always feel like I’m the one with everything to
prove."
Pride &
Prejudice rounded out 2005.
Variety wrote about her portrayal of
Elizabeth Bennet: "Looking every bit a star, Knightley, who's shown
more spirit than acting smarts so far in her career, really steps
up to the plate here, holding her own against the more classically
trained
Matthew Macfadyen, as well
as vets like
Brenda Blethyn,
Donald Sutherland,
Penelope Wilton, and
Judi Dench with a luminous strength that recalls
a young
Audrey Hepburn. More than the
older
Jennifer Ehle in the TV series,
she catches Elizabeth's essential skittishness and youthful
braggadocio, making her final conversion all the more moving." The
film grossed more than $100 million worldwide, and Knightley earned
a
Golden Globe nomination and an
Oscar nomination (the Oscar ultimately
went to
Reese Witherspoon). The
Academy Award nomination made her the third-youngest performer ever
nominated.
BAFTA's decision
not to nominate her drew criticism from
Pride &
Prejudice producer
Tim Bevan.
In 2006, Knightley was invited to join the
Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences. Her biggest financial hit thus far,
Pirates
of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, was released in
July.
2007 saw the release of several films starring Knightley:
Silk, an adaptation of the
novel by
Alessandro Baricco,
Atonement, a feature film
adaptation of
Ian McEwan's
novel of the same name (co-starring
James McAvoy,
Vanessa Redgrave, and
Brenda Blethyn), and
Pirates of the
Caribbean: At World's End, which was released in May 2007.
Knightley's performance in
Atonement began to generate
buzz before the film was released ; she was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award in the Best
Dramatic Actress category for the role, as well as a
BAFTA Award. Critic Richard Roeper was puzzled
by both Knightley's and McAvoy's Academy Award snubs, stating "I
thought McAvoy and Knightly were superb."
In the late spring of 2007, Knightley shot
The Edge of Love with
Cillian Murphy as her husband,
Matthew Rhys as her childhood sweetheart, Welsh
poet
Dylan Thomas, and
Sienna Miller as Thomas' wife
Caitlin MacNamara. She received, for the
most part, very positive reviews for her role. The 2008 release was
penned by her mother,
Sharman
Macdonald, and directed by
John
Maybury. She then filmed
The
Duchess, based on the best-selling biography,
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by
Amanda Foreman in which she
played
Georgiana Cavendish,
Duchess of Devonshire; the film was released in cinemas on 5
September 2008 in the U.K.
Knightley appears in the present-day drama
Last Night, in
which she co-starred with
Eva Mendes,
Sam Worthington, and
Guillaume Canet; it was directed by
Massy Tadjedin. In April 2009, Knightley
began work on
an
adaptation of
Kazuo Ishiguro's
dystopian novel,
Never Let Me Go.
Filming took place in
Norfolk and Clevedon
.
Upcoming films for 2010 include
London Boulevard with
Colin Farrell, the script of which is
written by
William Monahan, who will
also make his directing debut.
Knightley successfully auditioned for the role of
Eliza Doolittle in the
Columbia Pictures planned remake of the
stage musical
My Fair Lady to
be produced by
Cameron
Mackintosh, although no release date has yet been scheduled.
She will also work on
The Beautiful and the Damned, a
biopic about the life and relationship of American novelist
F. Scott Fitzgerald and his novelist wife
Zelda Sayre. The film is directed by
John Curran and scheduled for
release in 2010.
In 2008, she was attached to play Cordelia in a big screen
adaptation of
King Lear, which
was subsequently abandoned. Knightley has confirmed that she will
not be starring in the fourth installment of
Pirates of the
Caribbean.
Knightley will make her
West End debut in
Martin Crimp's version of
Molière's comedy,
The Misanthrope, at the Comedy Theatre
in London alongside
Damian Lewis,
Tara Fitzgerald, and
Dominic Rowan. Previews will begin on 7
December 2009 with a scheduled premiere date of 17 December
2009.
Media attention
Knightley attends the premiere of
Atonement in Leicester Square, London
As a result of her rapid rise to fame, Knightley has been the focus
of significant media attention. She has been described by press
reports as "famously open with media," although Knightley herself
has stated "I don't talk about my private life."
Knightley was ranked #79 by
FHM in the
magazine's 2004 UK edition of 100 Sexiest Women in the World list,
#18 in 2005, and was named "the sexiest woman in the world in
2006." The US edition ranked her #54 in 2004, #11 in 2005, and #5
in 2006. In May 2006, she was #9 on
Maxim's 2006 Hot 100. She was also
named "the number one beauty icon of 2007" by a poll of 2500 people
conducted by UK high street chain
Superdrug. Knightley appeared nude, along with
Scarlett Johansson, on the cover
of
Vanity Fair
magazine's March 2006 "Hollywood" issue.
Knightley was the celebrity face for the luxury goods brand Asprey,
as well as Lux haircare products in Japanese television
commercials. In April 2006, she was confirmed as the new celebrity
face of
Chanel's perfume
Coco Mademoiselle, though the first photo
from the campaign was not released until May 2007.
Knightley's
Valentino gown at the 2006
Golden Globe Awards won her much
acclaim and even landed her the top spot on
Steven Cojocaru's "Best Dressed List" on
Entertainment
Tonight, while the dress she wore to the 2006 Academy
Awards was donated to the charity
Oxfam, where
it raised £4,300.
Knightley has warned children who dream of the celebrity life that
it's not all what it seems to be. "It frightens me when kids go, 'I
want to be famous.'" In a recent interview with the BBC Knightley
said that she feels "de-humanised." She also said that when a
person becomes a celebrity, the public doesn't care that the
person's life is constantly watched.
While she has no current plans to leave the world of film,
Knightley has said that she could not imagine subjecting a child to
the media. She is quoted as saying, "I'm not planning to have
children at the moment... everyone changes, and I'm sure there will
be a time I will want to do something different. I could completely
see myself moving away [from acting]."
Charity work
Knightley is the face of an
Amnesty International campaign to
support
human rights, marking the 60th
anniversary of the United Nation's
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. As part of the campaign, the star also made a
short film. Knightley stated she wanted help raise awareness of the
UDHR and human rights abuses. She said "The UDHR is something that
everyone should be aware of and be proud of as a statement of our
common humanity."
Knightley contributed her voice to a 2007
Robbie the
Reindeer animation, all profits of which will be donated to
Comic Relief.
In 2004, she travelled
to Ethiopia
with a group
that included Richard Curtis, who had
directed her in Love, Actually, on behalf of that
charity.
In April 2009, Knightley appeared in a video to raise awareness of
domestic abuse entitled
Cut.
The video was directed by
Joe Wright, who
directed Knightley in
Pride and Prejudice and
Atonement, and shot for "
Women's
Aid", a U.K. based women and children aid group. The video has
created controversy, with some sources calling it too graphic,
while other groups support the video for showing a realistic
depiction of domestic violence.
Personal life
Knightley, who lives in London, is involved with her
Pride
& Prejudice co-star
Rupert
Friend. Knightley has stated she has no plans to be married in
the near future. She previously dated Northern Irish fashion model
Jamie Dornan.
Knightley has denied rumours she is
anorexic, although she did say—after her
appearance at the
Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest premiere led to media
speculation that her extremely slender figure was due to an
eating disorder—that her family has
a history of anorexia. Knightley sued the
Daily Mail after they claimed she lied about
having anorexia; the article said that a teenage girl died from
anorexia, indicating that Knightley's physical appearance may have
influenced her in some way. She was awarded a settlement.
In July 2006, Knightley said she has become a
workaholic, detailing that "the last five years
have blended into one. I can't tell you what was last year and what
was the year before" and specifying that she was "working too much"
and was "quite frightened that if I continue at this rate I will
start to hate what I love," even suggesting that she would take a
one-year break from acting to travel and focus on her personal
life.
Filmography
Feature films
Television appearances
References
- See Pronunciation of Keira Knightley.
- Cordelia in King Lear,
- "Keira Knightley Pirates of the Caribbean Actress
voted number one beauty icon for women." The
Sun.]
- Keira Knightley for Chanel - first photo.
Fashionising. Retrieved on 18 July 2007.
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Misc
Search
