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Keira Knightley is a British actress who began her career by appearing in commercials and television films, including The Treasure Seekers (1996), Coming Home (1998), and Oliver Twist (1999) [1] before making her major motion picture debut in the space-opera epic Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) as Padmé Amidala's handmaiden. [2] She portrayed the daughter of Robin Hood in the romantic adventure film Princess of Thieves (2001), her first starring role, and earned her breakthrough by playing a teen tomboy footballer in sports comedy Bend It Like Beckham (2002). [1] [3] A year later, Knightley rose to global stardom after appearing as Elizabeth Swann in the fantasy swashbuckler film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl , co-starring Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, for which she received two Saturn Award nominations, one for Best Supporting Actress. [4] [5]
She then appeared in the Richard Curtis-directed Christmas romance Love Actually (2003) as a woman whose fiancée's best man is secretly in love with her. [6] Knightley portrayed the daughter of an alcoholic in psychological thriller The Jacket (2005). [7] She starred as Elizabeth Bennet in Joe Wright's romantic drama Pride & Prejudice (2005), for which Knightley received her first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role nomination, becoming the third-youngest Best Actress nominee. [8] [9] [10] The film clinched her long association with period dramas. [11] [12] She reprised her role as Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007); the former is her highest-grossing release. [13] Knightley subsequently appeared in two wartime dramas; as a complex love interest in Wright's Atonement (2007), which earned her an Empire Award for Best Actress [14] [15] [16] and a jazz singer in the biopic The Edge of Love (2008). [17] She starred as eighteenth-century tastemaker Georgiana Cavendish in the drama The Duchess (2008), for which she received positive reviews. [18]
She made her theatre debut as a shallow, amorous film star in The Misanthrope , which earned Knightley her a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Play. [19] Also on West End, she then portrayed a schoolteacher accused of lesbianism in The Children's Hour . [20] She reunited with Wright for the third time with historical romance Anna Karenina (2012), playing the titular aristocratic socialite to critical acclaim. [21] Knightley expanded into contemporary roles with musical drama Begin Again (2014), starring as an aspiring songwriter, and action thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) as a medical student. Her role as an overeducated underachiever in the rom-com Laggies (2014) was followed by a return to historical parts as cryptanalyst Joan Clarke in the drama The Imitation Game (2014), which garnered Knightley an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. [22] The following year, she made her Broadway debut in Thérèse Raquin playing a psychotic and repressed wife. [23] Knightley appeared as the eponymous belle époque writer in biographical film Colette (2018) to positive reception. [24] [25] In wartime drama The Aftermath (2019), Knightley portrayed a cold, complex army wife. [26] She starred in succeeding political dramas as whistleblower Katharine Gun in Official Secrets (2019) and feminist Sally Alexander in Misbehaviour (2020). [27] [28]
† | Denotes series that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Screen One | Little Girl | Episode: "Royal Celebration" | |
1995 | A Village Affair | Natasha Jordan | Television film | |
The Bill | Sheena Rose | Episode: "Swan Song" | ||
1996 | The Treasure Seekers | The Princess | Television film | |
1998 | Coming Home | Young Judith Dunbar | ||
1999 | Oliver Twist | Rose Fleming | Miniseries | |
2001 | Princess of Thieves | Gwyn | Television film | |
2002 | Doctor Zhivago | Lara Antipova | Miniseries | |
2007 | Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind | Em | Television short film; voice role | |
2011 | Neverland | Tinker Bell | Miniseries; voice role | [41] |
2017 | Red Nose Day Actually | Juliet | Television short film | [42] |
2023 | Boston Strangler | Loretta McLaughlin | Television film | |
2024 | Totally Spies! | Geraldine Husk | Voice role | |
Black Doves † | Helen | Netflix thriller series | [43] |
Year | Production | Role | Playwright | Theatre | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | After Juliet | Rosaline | Sharman Macdonald | Heatham House Youth Centre Twickenham, England | [44] [45] |
2009–2010 | The Misanthrope | Jennifer (Célimène) | Molière | Comedy Theatre London, England | [46] |
2011 | The Children's Hour | Karen Wright | Lillian Hellman | Comedy Theatre London, England | [47] |
2015 | Thérèse Raquin | Thérèse Raquin | Helen Edmundson | Roundabout Theatre Company New York City, NY, U.S. | [48] [49] |
Year | Title | Voice role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | Pirates of the Caribbean | Narrator |
Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role | Director(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | "Let Her Love In" | Shock Machine (James Righton) | The Girl with the Pink Dress | James Righton |
Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | Villette | Polly |
Guest appearances
Year | Album | Track(s) |
---|---|---|
2007 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | "Hoist the Colours" |
2008 | The Edge of Love | "Overture / Blue Tahitian Moon" (featuring Angelo Badalamenti) |
"After the Bombing / Hang Out the Stars in Indiana" (featuring Angelo Badalamenti) | ||
"Drifting and Dreaming" (featuring Angelo Badalamenti) | ||
"Maybe It's Because I Love You Too Much" (featuring Angelo Badalamenti) | ||
2014 | Begin Again | "Tell Me If You Wanna Go Home" |
"Lost Stars" | ||
"Like a Fool" | ||
"Coming Up Roses" | ||
"A Step You Can't Take Back" | ||
"Tell Me If You Wanna Go Home (Roof Top Mix)" (featuring Hailee Steinfeld) |
Keira Christina Knightley is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, two BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, and a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2018, she was appointed an OBE at Buckingham Palace for services to drama and charity.
Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). She received critical praise for her performances in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), Miami Blues (1990), Backdraft (1991), Single White Female (1992), and The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994).
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