Keira Knightley

Keira Christina Knightley ( KEER-ə NYTE-lee; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, four Golden Globes, and a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2018, she was appointed an OBE at Buckingham Palace for services to drama and charity.

Born in London to English actor Will Knightley and Scottish playwright Sharman Macdonald, Knightley obtained an agent at age six and initially worked in commercials and television films. Following a minor role as Sabé in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), her breakthrough came when she played a tomboy footballer in Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and co-starred in Love Actually (2003). She achieved global recognition for playing Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2003–2007, 2017).

For her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice (2005), Knightley was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She starred in several more period films over the next few years, including Atonement (2007), The Duchess (2008), A Dangerous Method (2011), and Anna Karenina (2012). She took on contemporary-set parts in Begin Again (2013) and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), and returned to historical films playing Joan Clarke in The Imitation Game (2014), earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has since starred as the title character in Colette (2018), journalist Loretta McLaughlin in Boston Strangler (2023), and a spy in the thriller series Black Doves (2024). On stage, Knightley has appeared in two West End productions: The Misanthrope in 2009, which earned her an Olivier Award nomination, and The Children's Hour in 2011. She also starred as the titular heroine in the 2015 Broadway production of Thérèse Raquin.

Knightley is known for her outspoken stance on social issues and has worked extensively with Amnesty International, Oxfam, and Comic Relief. She is married to musician James Righton, with whom she has two daughters.

Early life and education

Keira Christina Knightley was born on 26 March 1985 in the southwestern London suburb of Teddington, to stage actor Will Knightley and playwright Sharman Macdonald. Her father is English and her mother is of Scottish and Welsh descent.

Knightley has an older brother, Caleb. Macdonald worked as a playwright after her acting career came to an end. Knightley's parents encountered substantial financial difficulties following the birth of her brother; her father, a "middling" actor, agreed to a second child only if her mother sold a script first. However, her parents' varying degrees of success did not deter Knightley's curiosity about the profession. Macdonald introduced her children to theatre and ballet very early, inspiring Knightley's interest in acting.

Knightley attended Teddington School. She was diagnosed with dyslexia at six, but by the time she was eleven, with her parents' support, she says, "they deemed me to have got over it sufficiently". She is still a slow reader and cannot read out loud. Due to her hard time reading, the school classified her as having "special educational needs," which made her feel discouraged. Her parents used the promise of acting to encourage her to work harder. She was meant to be named "Kiera", the anglicised form of "Kira", after the Soviet figure skater Kira Ivanova, whom her father admired; however, Macdonald, who is dyslexic, misspelt the name when she registered her daughter's birth certificate, writing the e before the i. Knightley has said she was "single-minded about acting". At age three, she requested to obtain an agent like her parents and secured one at six. This led to her taking a number of small parts in television dramas. She acted in a number of local amateur productions, which included After Juliet, written by her mother, and United States, written by her drama teacher. Knightley began studying her A-Levels at Esher College in Surrey but left after a year to pursue an acting career. Her mother's friends encouraged her to go to drama school, which she declined for financial and professional reasons.

Career

1993–2002: Career beginnings and breakthrough

After obtaining an agent at age six, Knightley began working in commercials and small television roles. Her first onscreen appearance was in the 1993 Screen One television episode titled "Royal Celebration". She then played Natasha Jordan, a young girl whose mother is involved in an extramarital affair, in the romantic drama A Village Affair (1995). After appearing in a spate of television films through the mid-to-late 1990s, including Innocent Lies (1995), The Treasure Seekers (1996), Coming Home (1998), and Oliver Twist (1999), Knightley landed the role of Sabé, Padmé Amidala's handmaiden and decoy, in the 1999 science fiction blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Her dialogue was dubbed over by Natalie Portman, who played Padmé. Knightley was cast in the role because of her close resemblance to Portman; even the two actresses' mothers had difficulty telling their daughters apart when they were in full make-up.

In her first major role, the 2001 Walt Disney Productions television film Princess of Thieves, Knightley played the daughter of Robin Hood. In preparation for the part, she trained for several weeks in archery, fencing, and riding. Concurrently, she appeared in The Hole, a thriller that received a direct-to-video release in the US. The film's director Nick Hamm described her as "a young version of Julie Christie". Knightley also took on the role of Lara Antipova in the 2002 miniseries adaptation of Doctor Zhivago, to positive reviews and high ratings. In the same year, Knightley starred as a pregnant drug addict in Gillies MacKinnon's drama film Pure. Co-starring Molly Parker and Harry Eden, the film had its world premiere at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival. In a retrospect review for AboutFilm.com, Carlo Cavagna noted Knightley's screen presence and wrote that "[although Knightley] doesn't have half of Parker's ability [...] she has spunk and grit [and] shines brightly in Pure".

Knightley landed a breakthrough role when she starred in Gurinder Chadha's sports comedy film Bend It Like Beckham, which was a box office hit in the U.K and U.S. Knightley portrayed Jules, a tomboy football player struggling against social norms who convinces her friend to pursue the sport. The film surprised critics who were laudatory of its "charming" and "inspiring" nature, social context and the cast's performances. Knightley and her co-star Parminder Nagra attracted international attention for their performances; critic James Berardinelli, who was largely laudatory of the film and the "energetic and likable" cast, noted that Knightley and Nagra brought "a lot of spirit to their instantly likable characters". To prepare for their roles, they underwent three months of extensive football training under the English football coach Simon Clifford. Knightley was initially sceptical of the project: in an interview with Tracy Smith she said, "I remember telling friends I was doing this girls' soccer movie [...] And nobody thought that it was gonna be any good."

2003–2007: Pirates of the Caribbean and worldwide recognition

Knightley was cast as Elizabeth Swann in the 2003 American fantasy swashbuckler film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The film, based on the Disney theme park attraction, revolves around infamous buccaneer Jack Sparrow and blacksmith Will Turner rescuing Swann, in possession of a cursed golden medallion, from 18th-century pirates. The producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski cast Knightley for her "indescribable quality [...] reminiscent of motion picture stars from Hollywood's heyday." Knightley underestimated the stunt work required and believed she would primarily be sitting in carriages; at one point during filming, she stood for two days on a plank and rejected a stunt double's offer to jump off the platform for the scene. Despite boasting the names of stars like Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom and a $135 million budget, Pirates was expected to fail at the box office. Knightley herself was not optimistic about its prospects. The film opened at number one on the box office, and became one of the highest-grossing releases of the year, with worldwide revenues of $654 million. Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times likened Knightley's "strident and confident" physical assurance to that of Nicole Kidman, while Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club described her and Bloom as appealing leads.