Keira Knightley

Biography of Keira Knightley

Keira Christina Knightley was born on March 26, 1985 in London, England. She is a British actress.

She is the daughter of English actor Will Knightley and Scottish novelist and playwright Sharman Macdonald, and has one older brother (born 1979). She was named after the Russian figure skater Kira Valentinovna Ivanova, who her father adored. However, her mother made a spelling mistake when filling out the birth certificate, giving Keira Knightley her unusual first name.

In 1999, she had a cameo role as Natalie Portman's look-alike in Star Wars:Episode I The Phantom Menace. In 2001, she starred in the thriller The Hole. Knightley's breakthrough came in 2002 with the British surprise hit Kick it like Beckham. At the age of seventeen she took on a leading role in the remake of Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago.

She had her break as an actress in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean, in which she played the governor's daughter Elizabeth Swann. She reprized that role in 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and 2007's third installment, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. After leaving the fourth installment of the series, she was in A small appearance in the fifth film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales again as Elizabeth Swann, but without lyrics.

In late 2003, Knightley starred in Love Actually as Chiwetel Ejiofor's bride. In 2004 she played Lady Guinevere in King Arthur. With Pride and Prejudice, Knightley appeared in another costume drama.

In 2007 she starred in Joe Wright's drama Atonement, based on the Ian McEwan novel of the same name. In 2008, she starred alongside Sienna Miller in The Edge of Love. Also in 2008, she played the wife of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire in The Duchess. She starred opposite Colin Farrell in the action thriller London Boulevard.

In 2012, she starred opposite Steve Carell in the doomsday comedy Seeking a Friend At The End Of The World. That same year, she starred in Anna Karenina for director Joe Wright for the third time. In 2013, she starred in the musical film Can a Song Save Your Life?. The following year, 2014, she starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, which was nominated for eight Oscars and won one Oscar. Knightley herself was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2018 she embodied the role of the sugar fairy in the fantasy film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and in Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker.

In 2007, Keira Knightley sued the British newspaper Daily Mail for alleging that she had an eating disorder. Because of the reporting, she worried about future role offers. She also shared that she is well aware of the seriousness of this disease based on cases in her family.

According to Forbes Magazine, she is one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood. Between June 2007 and June 2008 alone, she earned $32 million in fees, ranking second to Cameron Diaz ($50 million).

From 2003 to 2005, Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan was Knightley's partner, before that she was in a relationship with Irish actor Del Synnott. From 2006 to late 2010, she was in a relationship with fellow actor Rupert Friend.

On May 4, 2013, Keira Knightley married James Righton, lead singer and keyboardist for The Klaxons, in Mazan, France. Her first daughter was born in London in May 2015, and her second daughter followed in September 2019. The family lives in the London Borough of Islington.