Keira Knightley:A Career Biography

Keira Knightley:A Career Biography

At just 26 years of age Keira Knightley has overcome a lot including struggling with dyslexia from a young age as well as denying rumours of being anorexic. As well as overcoming these obstacles she has also achieved so much within her film career including lead roles in Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice and Atonement.

Keira Christina Knightley was born on 26^th March 1985 in Teddington; Middlesex, England to parent’s actor Will Knightley and playwright Sharman Macdonald.

With both her parents being in the industry, Keira caught `the acting bug` from a young age, asking for an agent at just three years old. `I’d asked for an agent when I was three and my mum had said no absolutely not, she told GMTV in 2005 while promoting `Pride and Prejudice`. `Finally she said ok, if you work with me every single day through the summer holidays, you come to me with a book in your hand and a smile on your face then at the end of it I’ll get you an agent and from then on it was as long as I kept my grades up then I was allowed to work during the summer holidays, so the acting was like my carrot to do well at school` So by the time I was eleven I had a lot of help from my parents, some really amazing teachers and some great tutors’ as well and I’d pretty much overcome the dyslexia I was diagnosed with when I was six`.

From 7-16, Keira starred in numerous small parts before landing a small role in `Star Wars: Episode 1-The Phantom Menace` starring opposite big names such as Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson and Natalie Portman. The similarity between both Keira and Natalie when filming was said to be so uncanny that when in make up not even their mothers could tell them apart.

Her success continued with roles in the TV Mini series `Oliver Twist`, `Defination`, a TV Movie `Princess of Thieves` as the main character, Gwyn, and `The Hole`.

These minor roles led Keira to one of her most popular roles starring as Jules Paxton in Guinda Chada`s `Bend it like Beckham` opposite Parmada Nagra and Jonathon Rhys Meyers about an Indian footballer. About this role and experience Keira said “I thought there would be doubles-stunt doubles-and I would just run in for close ups, but unfortunately they didn’t have the money for that”.

After the success of `Bend it like Beckham` Keira starred in a couple of smaller roles before landing her big break in Jerry Bruckheimer’s `Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of the Black Pearl` based on the Disney ride opposite Hollywood royalty Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira`s hero Geoffrey Rush.

The only problem about taking the part was the fact of having to wear a corset “I had a Scarlett O’Hara thing she said, she gets her waist down to 18 and half inches- so I thought I would try that. For five minutes, its fantastic- you have a tiny waist and fantastic cleavage, but oxygen deprivation is a big problem!”

After `Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl`, Keira`s career really began to take off with roles in Richard Curtis `Love Actually in 2003, opposite Colin Firth and Emma Thompson and King Arthur with Clive Owen, in which she undertook three months of training for her role as Gwenvia, four days a week, including two hours of weight lifting and then three hours of either boxing, fighting or horseback riding.

In 2005, Keira starred in an adaption of Jane Austen’s `Pride and Prejudice` directed by Joe Wright who Keira has gone on to work with on numerous occasions. Talking to GMTV in 2005 upon promoting the film she got asked if she wanted the part, she replied saying `I did really want it but I was terrified at exactly the same time I mean I was so terrified that I tried to talk my agents into not setting up a meeting with the director and producer I was like just don’t set me up for this, its too terrifying I’m not good enough, I’m not ready for it please don’t make me do this. I’m a huge Jane Austen fan and I’ve been particularly obsessed with `Pride and Prejudice` since I was about seven. They just said listen, you’re obsessed, you are obsessed with the book, you’ll be fine just go and meet him! Upon hearing Keira was interested Joe Wright initially thought that she was a little too beautiful to play the lead of Lizzie Bennett. `Yeah and then he met me and went no, she’s fine so I don’t really know what that means. ` Also in 2005 Keira starred in `Domino`.

In 2006 Keira returned to her role as Elizabeth Swann filming both `Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest` and `Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End`. Also in 2006, during the press conference for `Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest`, she was asked if she was anorexic as it had been reported in the press. Keira cleared up this issue by saying `I had no idea that I was. I can safely say I’m not. Ive got a lot of experience with anorexia. It was in my family. My grandmother and great grandmother suffered from it and I had a lot of friends at school who suffer from it so I don’t think it’s anything to be taken lightly. I don’t have it, I’m sure I don’t have it but I suppose in a way its good that it’s out there and people are talking about it because at least for young girls its something that’s aware. Its quite interesting because its normally high achieving young women that suffer from it, sort of control freaks so its understandable why you would associate that with higher achieving women in the film industry as well and I’m not saying there are, I’m not one of them.`

2007 brought a busy year for Keira with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End she also got the chance to work with Joe Wright as Cecilia Tallis in Atonement based on the book by Ian McEwan in which she played Cecilia Tallis opposite Scottish heartthrob James McAvoy.

In 2008 Keira got the opportunity to star in `The Edge of Love` as Vera Phillips, a film about the life of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas alongside Sienna Millar, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys. The screenplay was written by her mother Sharman Macdonald. Also in 2008 Keira got to star opposite Ralph Fiennes and Dominic Cooper in `The Duchess`- the story of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.

2010 was another busy year for Keira, she got the chance to star alongside close friend Carey Mulligan, as Ruth in `Never Let Me Go`.She also starred in Last Night a film to quote Keira “It poses the question of what is worse a man who spends a night with a women, has sex with a women but doesn’t feel anything for that women really or his wife who spends the night with a man who she is kind of in love with and who is in love with her who doesn’t actually have sex with her but they spend the night in each others arms and what is the biggest betrayal.” She also starred in `London Boulevard` opposite Colin Farrell.

Last year in 2011, Keira starred in `A Dangerous Method` as Sabina Spielrein a story about the relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud and the birth of psychoanalysis starring alongside Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen. She also voiced Tinkerbell in `Neverland`, a two part series that aired on Sky Movies.

This year fans of Keira can expect to see her in `Seeking a Friend for the End of the World` as Penny, alongside Jim Carey as well as being reunited with Joe Wright for the third time in a remake of Anna Karenina as the lead of Anna alongside Jude Law, Aaron Johnston and Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery.

By Emily Pontin