Keira Knightley - Sublime Beauty

Keira Knightley is one of those actresses who comes once in a lifetime and manages to carry poise, wit, charm, and then some. She's the offspring of famed actor Will Knightley and actress-turned-author Sharman MacDonald. She was born on March 22, 1985 in Teddington, England. By the ripe age of three, she asked her parents for an agent. But her parents wanted her to concentrate on her studies, since she struggled in school. She describes herself as a nerdy bookworm, but had trouble on spelling tests and spelling bees.

She followed in her parents’ footsteps quite early, making her film debut at the age of 11 in A Village Affair (1994). By 1999, she appeared in her first Hollywood blockbuster, playing Padmé's double Sabé, in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).

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Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley and Shaznay Lewis	Keira practicing her moves for King Arthur	Keira practicing her moves for King Arthur

She later moved onto other things. In the TV movie, The Princess of Thieves (2001), Keira played the title role of Robin Hood’s daughter Gwyn, who takes on the family business after her father dies. Despite her lack of soccer experience, she was chosen for a lead role in the independent feature Bend It Like Beckham (2002), a movie based on soccer phenom, David Beckham. Along with Parminder Nagra, who played the lead role in the film, Keira trained full time with a coach for three months in order to successfully play a soccer-obsessed teenager. They learned Futebol de Salao -- the Brazilian method of playing soccer and repeated the tricky moves over and over, even practising them at home each night. At one point, when Keira sustained a concussion, the director suggested that they use doubles, but the girls refused, saying they wanted to do the soccer action themselves.

When Bend it Like Beckham was number one in Britain and stayed there for several weeks, it was clear that the film was a hit. It spread its wings across Europe, then was shown in Australia, India and eventually opened in the United States to rave reviews and was proclaimed a sleeper hit in the States. Soon after, Keira landed a lead role in the Hollywood blockbuster, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) acting alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom after Jerry Bruckheimer (Pearl Harbor) discovered her in Bend It Like Beckham. He then cast her as Guienevere in the Disney update of King Arthur. POTC went on to conquer the box office by landing at #1, beating out the Arnold Schwartznegger movie Terminator 3 and Legally Blonde 2.
At this moment, Keira is definitely sitting on top of the world. She's definitely one of those actresses that won't go away anytime soon and we can't wait to see what else this witty Brit has in store for us.

It's just her tenacity that counts!

Vital Statistics:

Birthdate: March 22, 1985
Place of Birth: Teddington, England
Height: 5'7"
Family: Father: Will Knightley (actor); Mother: Sharman Knightley (actress); Siblings: 1 brother, Caleb (24)

Favorites:
Music: Eminem and Nirvana
Movie: Star Wars movies
TV Shows: Neighbours
Food: Anything Italian
Actresses: Vivien Leigh, Katharine Hepburn

Awards Won
We all know what a talent Keira is. Here's a list of awards she's won so far:

Best Newcomer for the London Critics Circle Award 2003
ALFS Award for British Newcomer of the Year from the London Critics Circle Film Awards
Tied with Parminder Nagra for the Best Actress award at the Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema.

Random Facts
Keira is trained in dancing.
The similarity between her and Natalie Portman, meant that during the filming of The Phantom Menace, their own mothers could not tell them apart once covered in makeup.
Her role as the decoy queen in Star Wars was kept secret in order to not spoil the surprise, it was maintained through the promotions that Portman played both the Queen and the decoy.
She's a member of the Heathham House Youth Project.
She supports Westham United.
Tatler announced her "Most Desirable Woman" (2004)
She was chosen "Most Glamorous Film Actress" by Glamour (2004)
She was chosen on Entertainment Weekly's "It List" (2003)
Keira is dyslexic.
Her first nude scene was when she was 16 in "The Hole".
Keira loves the comparisons to Natalie Portman.

Check out her beau