Macdonald introduced her own children to theatre and ballet very early. However, her parents' varying degrees of success did not deter Knightley's curiosity about the profession. Knightley's parents encountered substantial financial difficulties following the birth of her brother her father, a "middling" actor, agreed to a second child only if her mother sold a script first. Macdonald worked as a playwright after her acting career came to an end. Her father is English and her mother is of Scottish and Welsh descent. She was meant to be named "Kiera", the anglicised form of "Kira", after Kira Ivanova, whom her father admired however, Macdonald misspelled the name when she registered her daughter's birth certificate, writing the e before the i. Keira Christina Knightley was born on 26 March 1985 in the Teddington suburb of London, to stage actors Will Knightley and Sharman Macdonald.
She then forayed into contemporary dramas, appearing as an aspiring musician in Begin Again (2013) and a medical student in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014).
Knightley starred in a series of further period pieces, portraying a complex love interest in Atonement (2007), tastemaker Georgiana Cavendish in The Duchess (2008), and the titular socialite in Anna Karenina (2012). At age 20, she became the third-youngest Best Actress nominee at the time. In the same year, she appeared in the Christmas romantic comedy Love Actually (2003) and was labelled a promising teen star.įor her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in the period romance Pride & Prejudice (2005), Knightley was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She achieved global stardom with her portrayal of Elizabeth Swann in fantasy swashbuckler series Pirates of the Caribbean. Knightley had a break-through role portraying a tomboy footballer in the sports film Bend It Like Beckham (2002). She appeared as Sabé, Padmé Amidala's handmaiden, in science fiction blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). īorn in London to actors Will Knightley and Sharman Macdonald, Knightley obtained an agent at age six, and initially worked commercials and television films. Knightley was appointed an OBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity. Her accolades include two Empire Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award and one Laurence Olivier Award. She has starred in both independent films and big-budget blockbusters, and is particularly noted for her roles in period dramas. Keira Christina Righton OBE ( / ˈ k ɪər ə ˈ n aɪ t l i/ née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress.