Keira Knightley Biography

Keira Knightley caught the notice of moviegoers in 2003 with major roles in the small-budget charmer Bend it Like Beckham and the big-budget extravaganza Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (opposite Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom). Knightley began acting as a child and appeared in films and on television in the U.K. before being cast in George Lucas‘s Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999). Hired for her porcelain-skinned resemblance to Natalie Portman, Knightley played Sabé, Queen Amidala’s decoy and bodyguard. She was almost too beautiful as an object of desire in Love Actually (2003, as Chiwetel Ejiofor‘s bride) and got great reviews for Pride and Prejudice (2005, based on the Jane Austen novel), but she also had the misfortune of appearing in the box office duds King Arthur (2004, starring Clive Owen), The Jacket (2005, with Adrien Brody) and Domino (2005). Knightley rejoined Depp and Bloom for the lucrative sequels Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), and was the star of the 2007 drama Atonement and the 2010 drama Never Let Me Go (with Carey Mulligan). For her role in 2014’s The Imitation Game, she was nominated for an Oscar.