Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley Personal Details :
Actress Name: Keira Knightley
Actress Full Name: Keira Christina Knightley
Keira Knightley Nicknames: Boo
Date of Birth: March 26th 1985, Teddington, Middlesex, England, UK
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Race or Ethnicity: White
Zodiac Sign: Aries
Nationality: British
Trade Mark: Prominent bone structure high defined cheekbones and a strong square jawline; Often stars in period pieces.

Family and Friends of Keira Knightley :
Father: William Knightley (Actor)
Mother: Sharman MacDonald (Playwright)
Brother: Caleb Knightley
Boyfriend: Jamie Dornan (Irish model), Del Synnott (Actor), Rupert Friend (Actor)
Friends: Sienna Miller, Andrea Logiudice

Career
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.[10] 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.[11] 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[12] and high box office grosses,[13] 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.[14] In the same month, Knightley was voted by readers of Hello! magazine as the film industry's most promising teen star.[15] Additionally, Time magazine noted in a 2004 feature that Knightley seemed dedicated to developing herself as a serious actress rather than a film star.[16]
2005 saw the release of three films, the first of which was The Jacket. The complex thriller starring Adrien Brody was derided by critics as unoriginal, silly and messy.[17] 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.[18] 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."[8]
Pride & Prejudice rounded out 2005.[19] 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."[20] The film grossed more than $100 million worldwide,[21] 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.[22] BAFTA's decision not to nominate her drew criticism from Pride & Prejudice producer Tim Bevan.[23]
In 2006, Knightley was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[24] Her biggest financial hit thus far, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, was released in July.[25]

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),[26] 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[citation needed]; 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."[27]
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.[28] 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[29] 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.[30][31] 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.[32][33]
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.[34]
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.[35] 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.[36] Knightley has confirmed that she will not be starring in the fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean.[37]
Knightley made 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.[6] in December 2009.[6] Reviews for her portrayal of Jennifer in the play were generally positive. The Daily Telegraph described her performance as revealing "both power and poignancy"[38] and The Independent called her performance "not only strikingly convincing but,

at times, rather thrilling in its satiric aplomb"[39] The Guardian, however, noted that due to the nature of the role "one could say that she is not unduly stretched"[40] and The Daily Mail described her as "little better than adequate".[41]
Knightley has been nominated for the prestigious Laurence Olivier Theatre Award as Best Supporting Actress as Jennifer in the The Misanthrope, recognizing her theatre debut.[42]
Knightley is slated to appear in The Emperor's Children with Eric Bana and Richard Gere. The film, reportedly a dark comedy, will be directed by Noah Baumbach.