Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley

Keira Christina Knightley is an English actress. She began acting as a child on television and made her film debut in 1995. She had a supporting role as Sabé in Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (1999) and her first significant role came in the psychological horror film The Hole (2001). She gained widespread recognition in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham and achieved international fame in 2003 after appearing as Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.

Knightley became known for starring in period dramas such as Pride & Prejudice (2005), for which she earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She has also appeared in a variety of other genres, including the romantic comedy Love Actually (2003), the historical action King Arthur (2004), the psychological thriller The Jacket (2005), biographical action Domino (2005), the historical drama The Edge of Love (2008), the film noir London Boulevard (2010), the dystopian science fiction Never Let Me Go (2010), the romantic drama Last Night (2010), and the dark comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012).

In its 2008 list, Forbes identified Knightley as the second highest-paid actress in Hollywood, with reported earnings of US$32 million in 2007, making her the only non-American on the list of highest-paid actresses that year. In 2014, she was nominated for a Golden Globe, a SAG, a BAFTA Award, and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the historical thriller The Imitation Game.