Knightley, Keira (1985– )

English film actor. Known for her spirited characterizations, she achieved her breakthrough role as as a young soccer star in the British film Bend it Like Beckham (2002). She rapidly achieved mainstream attention with a starring role opposite US actor Johnny Depp in the hugely successful Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and an Academy Award nomination for her leading role as Elizabeth Bennett in the popular 2005 adaptation Pride and Prejudice.

She was born in Teddington, Middlesex, England, the daughter of playwright Sharman McDonald and actor Will Knightley, and trained as a dancer. She started acting professionally at the age of nine and made her film debut in the romantic drama A Village Affair (1994). Other films include Innocent Lies (1995), The Hole (2001), Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Love Actually (2003), King Arthur (2004), The Jacket (2005), the sequels Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), and Atonement (2007). She also starred in Treasure Seekers (1996), Coming Home (1998), Oliver Twist (2000), Princess of Thieves (2001), and Doctor Zhivago (2002) for UK television. She won the London Critics Circle Award for Best Newcomer in 2003.