Keira Christina Knightley was born to English actor Will Knightley and award-winning playwright Sharman Macdonald on March 26, 1985. She has an elder brother, Caleb who was born in 1979. Keira Knightley was born with dyslexia but this did not hinder her success in school, she attended Teddington School and Esher College and was single-minded about acting. She requested for an agent at an early age of 3 but got one when she turned six from her mother as a reward for her hard work in school. At a young age she performed in various local amateur productions including, United States (written by her drama teacher) and After Juliet (written by her mother).
She has appeared in several television movies including, The Bill, Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace, Princess of Thieves, The Hole, and in the miniseries adaptation of Doctor Zhivago. She came to international prominence in 2003 with her breakthrough role in the football themed film, Bend It Like Beckham, which was released in August 2002 in the UK grossing $18 million and March 2003 in the US grossing $32 million. With the success of the first film, she was cast in the big budget film of producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s Pirates of the Caribbean alongside Johny Depp and Orlando Bloom.
She was voted by Hello magazine readers as the most promising teen star and Time magazine noted in the 2004 feature that Keira seemed focused on developing herself as a serious actress. Her appearance in several Hollywood films gained her various nominations such as Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in her role as Elizath Bennet in adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Two years later she was once again nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Forbes Magazine in 2008 claimed Keira to be second highest paid actress in Hollywood next to Cameron Diaz with $32 million in 2007, though she denied such claim. Keira has starred in many films such as Love Actually in 2003, King Arthur in 2004, The Jacket, Domino, Pride and Prejudice in 2005, Silk, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 in 2006, Atonement in 2007, The Edge of Love and The Duchess in 2008 and upcoming films such as Last Night and The Beautiful and Damned in 2009, Never Let Me Goand London Boulevard in 2010.
Keira is a member of the Heathham House Youth Project and was trained in dancing. When not filming she spends her spare time swimming, playing the flute, listening to Eminem and Nirvana, and to playing soccer. Keira is dating co-star Ruper Friend though she has stated that she has no plans of tying the knot in the near future. She has previously dated Irish model, Jamie Dornan and actor Del Synnott. She currently lives in London with her parents and her cat Finn.
