Keira Knightley Biography

Name : Keira Knightley
Birth Name : Kiera Knightley
Height : 5' 7"
Sex : F
Nationality: British
Birth Date : March 22, 1983
Birth Place: Teddington, London, England, UK
Profession : actress
Relationship: Rupert Friend (actor; began dating on January 2006), Kaz James (Aussie DJ), Jamie Dornan (Irish model; broke up in 2005)
Father : Will Knightley (actor; born on April 23, 1946)
Mother : Sharman Macdonald (writer; born in 1951)
Brother: Caleb Knightley (born in 1979)
Claim to fame: Soccer-playing tomboy Juliette Paxton in Bend it Like Beckham (2003)

Knightley was born in Teddington, Middlesex to Sharman Macdonald, a Scottish actress and an award-winning playwright, and Will Knightley, an English television actor.Keira has one brother, Caleb.

Knightley began her acting career at the age of seven. Her first multi-scene performance came in A Village Affair (1994), an adaptation of the lesbian love story by Joanna Trollope. She made her television debut in Royal Celebration (1993) and also appearing on the television series, The Bill (1995). She appeared in several more made-for-television films in the mid to late 1990s, before being cast as Sabé, Padmé Amidala's decoy, in the 1999 science fiction blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Knightley was cast due to her close resemblance to Natalie Portman, who played Padmé; the two actresses' mothers had difficulty telling their daughters apart when they were heavily made up. Knightley's first starring role followed in 2001, when she played the daughter of Robin Hood in a made-for-television Walt Disney Productions feature, Princess of Thieves. During this time period, Knightley also appeared in The Hole, a thriller that received a direct-to-video release in the United States, and in a mini-series remake of Doctor Zhivago that was first aired in 2002.

Knightley's breakthrough role was in the English sports-themed film, Bend It Like Beckham, which was a major success in its August 2002 UK release, and did fairly at the box office upon its United States release in March 2003, grossing $32 million. After Bend It Like Beckham's UK release raised her profile, she was cast in the big budget action film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and opened in July 2003 to positive reviews and a high box office gross, becoming one of the biggest hits of summer 2003 and cementing Knightley as a leading actress.

Knightley had a role in the romantic comedy Love Actually, which opened in November 2003. Her next film, King Arthur, opened in July 2004. In the same month, Knightley was voted by readers of Hello! magazine as the movie industry's most promising teen star. Additionally, Knightley was voted the sexiest movie star of all time by the readers of Empire magazine.

Knightley starred in three 2005 films; The Jacket, a dark thriller that opened in March; director Tony Scott's film Domino, which opened in October, was an action film inspired by the life of bounty hunter Domino Harvey; and finally Pride and Prejudice, an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel, in which Knightley played regency Englishwoman Elizabeth Bennet. She received a Best Actress - Comedy/Musical Golden Globes nomination and an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for the role in Pride and Prejudice, though she did not win either.

Knightley appeared nude on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine's March 2006 'Hollywood' issue, with Scarlett Johansson, and was voted the World's Sexiest Woman of 2006 by the UK version of FHM magazine.

Knightley, who currently lives in Central London, is dating her Pride and Prejudice co-star, Rupert Friend; the two have moved in together. She has previously dated Irish model Jamie Dornan, as well as actor Del Synnott, who according to some reports, attempted suicide after their relationship ended, although Synnott and Knightley deny these claims.