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Keira Knightley is an English actress and model, who debut in the entertainment industry as a child at the age of six. She has carved a place for herself among the best actress, with her roles as Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice,” as Elizabeth Swann in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film series, and as Cecilia Tallis in “Atonement.” Here are 50 interesting facts about the actress -
- Keira Christina Knightley was born on March 26, 1985, in Teddington, London.
- Her mother Sharman Macdonald, a former actress turned playwright, is of Scottish and Welsh descent.
- Her father, Will Knightley is an English television and stage actor, and a founding member of London's Half Moon Theatre.
- Her mother wanted to name Keira after the Russian Ice skater “Kira Ivanova,” but accidentally misspelled the name during registration.
- She has an older brother Caleb Knightley.
- Keira attended Stanley Junior School, Teddington School and Esher College in Richmond.
- At an early age of six, she was diagnosed with dyslexia and hyper activity (ADHD). She still suffers from these conditions. Even with these medical conditions, she was doing well in school.
- Her ambition for acting was so strong that she acquired a Talent agent at the age of six to help her in her acting skills.
- During her time in Esher College, she focused on Art, History and English literature. But after a year, she left it to focus entirely on her acting career.
- Initially, she worked in small TV roles and commercials. Her first TV role was in the year 1993 in “Little Girl in Royal Celebration.”
- She also had a small part to play in the film “A Village Affair.”
- She starred as princess in a 1996 movie “The Treasure Seekers.” In 1999, she played the role of Rose in “Oliver Twist.”
- She was casted as Sabe in 1999 science fiction movie “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.” Her character was dubbed by Natalia Portman, who starred in the movie as Padme Amidala.
- Keira was cast in the movie due to her resemblance with Portman. After the makeup, Keira’s mother as well as Portman’s mother was not able to identify their daughters correctly.
- Her first leading role was in 2001, in “Princess of Thieves,” where she played the daughter of Robin Hood. For this role, she was trained in archery, horse riding and fencing.
- Her first topless scene was in the movie “The Hole,” in the same year. She was only 15, at that time.
- The director of the movie “The Hole” described her as young version of Julie Christie.
- Following these movies, she returned to Esher College to complete her degree, but had to again let go due to her role as Lara in “Doctor Zhivago.”
- From 2001 to 2003 she was in a relationship with actor Del Synnott. They both met during the filming of “Princess of Thieves.”
- In 2002, she played as pregnant teenager, addicted to heroin in the movie “Pure.”
- Her breakthrough was in the football themed movie “Bend It Like Beckham,” in the same year. The movie grossed $18 million in the UK and $32 million in the US. She gained worldwide recognition, due to the success of “Bend It Like Beckham.”
- This was the first western film to be screened on North Korean Television in the year 2010, while celebrating the 10 years of diplomatic relationship between UK and North Korea.
- Her performance in this movie, landed her a role in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of Black Pearl,” alongside Johny Depp and Orlando Bloom.
- It was one of the highest grossing movies in 2003 and one of the biggest hits of 2003 summer. This paved way for her being considered as the new “It” girl.
- She considers her co-star in “Pirates of The Caribbean” Series, Geoffrey Rush as her hero.
- During the screening of “Pirates of The Caribbean: At the Worlds End,” she fell asleep and has not yet watched the full movie.
- She played a small role in the British romantic comedy “Love Actually,” along with her childhood idol Emma Thompson, in the same year.
- She starred in the movie “King Arthur,” in the year 2004, which was met with many negative reviews. She underwent intense training of four days a week for three months, for her role in the movie.
- She performed two hours of weight lifting and then three hours of either fighting or boxing or horse riding.
- She starred in an action film “Domino” based on life of bounty hunter Domino Harvey. This movie has been Keira’s greatest critical flop till date.
- Her critics have always dubbed her as nothing but a pretty face. Responding to it, she commented on Elle magazine that she is the one with everything to prove.
- She was voted as the second sexiest voice behind Sir Sean Connery by UK’s Royal National institute for Blind.
- She loved the book “Pride and Prejudice” since she was of age 7 and lucky she was cast in the movie, which was released in the year 2005.
- From her first cheque for acting, she bought a doll’s house of the hero’s mansion.
- She earned an Oscar nomination as well as Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the movie “Pride and Prejudice.”
- With this nomination, she became the third youngest actress to be ever nominated for Academy Awards.
- Tim Bevan, producer of the movie, criticized BAFTA for not nominating her for the Best Actress award.
- She was in a romantic relationship with Rupert Friend from 2005 to 2010. He was her co-star in “Pride and Prejudice.”
- In 2007, she starred in “Atonement,” a film adaptation of a novel of the same name. She co-starred with Jamed McAvoy and Brenda Blethyn.
- Her performance in the movie, garnered her nominations for Best Dramatic Actress category in Golden Globe as well as BAFTA.
- She was second in the Forbes List for Highest Paid Actress in Hollywood in 2007. She was reported to have earned $32million, making her only non American that year.
- The same year, she sued Daily mail for an article whether she has eating disorder or not. She won the lawsuit and was awarded $6000 in charges.
- She added another $6000 to the money and donated it to “Beat” a charity for people suffering from eating disorder.
- She was ranked at No 71 in the Forbes Hundred Most Powerful Celebrities in 2007.
- In 2008, she acted in a wartime drama “The Edge of Love” penned by her mother Sharman Macdonald. Initially Sharman wrote the screenplay with Knightley as Macnamara but when she agreed to play, Sharman enlarged the character into a singer.
- She then appeared in “The Duchess” by Saul Dibb playing the 18th century English Aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. She received critical acclaim for her performance. She was nominated for BIFA Award for Best Actress.
- She played as Joan Clarke in “The Imitation Game” alongside Benedict Cumberbatch. This is the second film where both act together, the first being “Atonement.”
- During the theatrical release of the movie she was expecting her first baby with her musician husband James Righton.
- Inagh Payne, the surviving niece of Alan Turing disagreed with the casting of Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke as the real Joan was very plain. However she agreed that Cumberbatch was ideal to portray Turing.
- She dated Musician James Righton in 2011 and got married to him in May 4, 2013. They got married in Mazan, Vaucluse in France. They have a daughter born in London on 1st May 2015.
