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KeiraChristina Knightley OBE (/ˈkɪərə ˈnaɪtli/ 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 BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, and a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2018, she was appointed an OBE at Buckingham Palace for services to drama and charity.[2]

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 Thrse 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.

Keira Christina Knightley was born on 26 March 1985 in the London suburb of Teddington, to stage actors Will Knightley and Sharman Macdonald.[3] 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 misspelt the name when she registered her daughter's birth certificate, writing the e before the i.[4] Her father is English and her mother is of Scottish and Welsh descent.[5] Knightley has an older brother, Caleb.[6] 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;[7] 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.[8] Macdonald introduced her own children to theatre and ballet very early.[9] This inspired Knightley's interest in acting.[10]

Knightley attended Teddington School.[11] She was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 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.[12] Knightley has said she was "single-minded about acting".[13] 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.[14] 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, but left after a year to pursue an acting career.[15] Her mother's friends encouraged her to go to drama school, which she declined for financial and professional reasons.[16]

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.[19] 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".[20] Knightley also took on the role of Lara Antipova in the 2002 miniseries adaptation of Doctor Zhivago, to positive reviews and high ratings.[21] 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.[22] 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".[23]

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.[24] Knightley portrayed Jules, a tomboy football player struggling against social norms who convinces her friend to pursue the sport.[25] The film surprised critics who were laudatory of its "charming" and "inspiring" nature, social context and the cast's performances.[26] Knightley and her co-star Parminder Nagra attracted international attention for their performances;[27] 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".[28] 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."[29]

Knightley portrayed the role of Elizabeth Swann, in the 2003 American fantasy swashbuckler film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.[30] 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.[31] The producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski cast Knightley for her "indescribable quality [...] reminiscent of motion picture stars from Hollywood's heyday."[32] 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.[32][33] 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.[34] Knightley herself was not optimistic about its prospects.[35] 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.[36] 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 branded her and Bloom as appealing leads.[37][38]

Also in 2003, Knightley appeared in Richard Curtis's Christmas-themed romantic comedy Love Actually, featuring an ensemble cast, which included her childhood idol Emma Thompson.[39][40] Knightley played Juliet, a woman whose fiance's best man is secretly in love with her.[41] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone criticised the waste of Knightley's talent in a "nothing" role,[42] while Megan Conner of The Guardian remarked that the film turned Knightley into a household name.[16] Love Actually has been referred to as a modern-day Christmas classic.[43] Knightley believes the film's trajectory to be "extraordinary", given that its popularity resurfaced a few years after the film's release.[44] Knightley's only release of 2004 was the historical film King Arthur, where she played Guinevere, a warrior queen and the wife of the titular character.[45] The part required her to learn boxing, archery, and riding.[39][46] The critic A. O. Scott praised Knightley for "throw[ing] herself bodily into every scene".[47] Although the film received unfavourable reviews, Knightley's stature as a performer grew; she was voted by the readers of Hello magazine as the industry's most promising teen star,[48] and featured in Time magazine's article, which stated that she seemed dedicated to develop herself as a serious actor rather than a film star.[49]

Knightley appeared in three films in 2005, the first of which was the psychological thriller The Jacket, co-starring Adrien Brody.[50] In a mixed review for Empire, Kim Newman wrote that the role was unlike the ones she had previously taken up : "getting out of period gear and talking American, tries to broaden her range and is arguably well-cast".[51] Knightley next played the titular character in Tony Scott's French-American action film Domino, based on the life of Domino Harvey. The film's release was delayed on several occasions and, on its eventual release in November, it received negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office.[52]

Knightley's most successful release of the year was Pride & Prejudice, a period drama based on Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice.[53] The director Joe Wright cast Knightley for her tomboyish nature combined with a "lively mind" and sense of humour.[54] Knightley, who had admired the book from a young age,[55] said of her character, "The beauty of Elizabeth is that every woman who ever reads the book seems to recognise herself, with all her faults and imperfections."[55] On release, the film became a huge commercial success, with total collections of around US$120 million worldwide, and received positive reviews from critics.[56] Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw labelled her performance of "beauty, delicacy, spirit and wit; in her growing lustre and confidence" and Derek Elley of Variety found her "luminous strength" to be reminiscent of a young Audrey Hepburn.[57][58] Knightley earned "Best Actress in a Leading Role" nominations at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards for her performance at age 20, becoming the third-youngest nominee for the latter.[59] Knightley's consecutive successes came with increased media scrutiny, and she later admitted to experiencing struggles with her mental health during this period.[60]

Knightley was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, among other artists in 2006.[61] In 2004, the second and third films of the Pirates of the Caribbean series were conceived, with screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio developing a story arc that would span both sequels, in which Knightley reprised her role as Elizabeth Swann. The plot of the films see Swann buck convention to seek adventure and become fierce pirate and fighter to match the skills of Sparrow and her love interest, Turner.[62] The sequel installments allowed Knightley to study sword-fighting, which she had sought to do since the first film.[32] Filming for the projects took place in 2005; Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest released in July 2006, with the worldwide collections of $1.066 billion, becoming the biggest financial hit of Knightley's career.[63] The third installment in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, was released in May, the following year.[64] A. O Scott termed her performance "a vision of imperial British pluckiness, with an intriguing dash of romantic recklessness that surfaces toward the end".[65] On November 2006, it was reported that Knightley didn't want to participate in any further sequels.[66] By 2010, both Knightley and Orlando Bloom had repeatedly been quoted in saying they wanted to move on.[67][68][69]

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