Keira Knightley is an English actress best known for her roles in films such as Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Love Actually. She has been nominated for numerous awards throughout her career including two Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Awards. Born on March 26th 1985 in London England, she began acting at the young age of six when she appeared in commercials for companies like British Airways.
The daughter of playwright Sharman Macdonald and actor Will Knightley, Keira attended Teddington School before attending the Royal Ballet School for a short period of time. At just fourteen years old, she made her debut on film with a small role in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999). Following this film was Bend it Like Beckham (2002), which earned her worldwide recognition and launched her into stardom.
In 2003, Keira starred alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise where she played Elizabeth Swann; a feisty female pirate who falls in love with Will Turner (Bloom). This role won her several Teen Choice Awards along with other accolades from various organizations around the world. In 2004 she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress due to her performance as Guinevere Pettigrew in Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (2008).
Since then Keira has gone on to star many more films such as Pride & Prejudice (2005) which earned her another Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress; Begin Again (2013); Collateral Beauty (2016); Colette (2018) among others; showing off both dramatic range and comedic timing. On top of these impressive performances, Keira also lends herself to humanitarian work by participating with charities that help those suffering from poverty or violence within society.
Overall, Keira Knightly is one of Hollywood’s most talented actresses whose hard work continues to be recognized today. Her success story goes beyond any award or recognition however- it serves as inspiration that anyone can achieve their dreams no matter what obstacles life may present them.
Knightley was born on March 26th 1985 to Will Knightley and Sharman Macdonald in Teddington, London. From a young age she showed interest in acting and began appearing in commercials at the age of six before making her film debut aged nine when she starred opposite Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren in A Village Affair (1995).
Her breakthrough role came when she was cast as Juliette ‘Jules’ Paxton alongside Parminder Nagra in Gurinder Chadha’s 2002 hit Bend It Like Beckham which earned her critical acclaim and established her as one of Britain’s most promising new stars.
Following this success Knightley went on to appear in several critically acclaimed films including Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003) where she played Elizabeth Swan opposite Johnny Depp; Love Actually (2003); King Arthur (2004); Pride & Prejudice (2005) where she played the lead role of Elizabeth Bennett; Atonement (2007); Begin Again (2013), starring alongside Mark Ruffalo; Laggies (2014), co-starring Chloë Grace Moretz; Collateral Beauty (2016), featuring Will Smith; Official Secrets (2019) with Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennesand Matthew Goode among many others.
In addition to acting, Knightley has been involved with numerous charity campaigns related to poverty relief, human rights issues and animal welfare organisations. She is also an ambassador for Women For Women International which provides support to female survivors of war around the world through education initiatives. In 2015 Keira was appointed Officer Of The Order Of The British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama due recognition for her immense contribution towards cinema over two decades since starting out at a young age.
Overall, Keira Knightly is an iconic figure within both British culture and Hollywood who continues to use her platform positively while inspiring audiences across all ages worldwide with each new project that comes along!
