History Creator / KeiraKnightley

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: She was attached to star in and produce a miniseries called ''The Essex Serpent'' for Creator/AppleTVPlus before she dropped out in the fall of 2020. She couldn't figure out a workable childcare situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic without being away from her kids for five months or bring them with her to the production bubble.

Knightley oftentimes stars in {{period piece}}s playing a young woman [[ComingOfAgeStory approaching adulthood]], usually the SpiritedYoungLady or RebelliousPrincess. She married James Righton of the London-based band {{Music/Klaxons}} in May 2013, and gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Edie, in 2015.

Keira Christina Knightley [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OBE]] (born March 26, 1985 in London, England) is a British actress who became subject to [[StarMakingRole international recognition]] for her roles in ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'' (2002) and ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' (2003), followed by two sequels. She has since starred in a number of feature films, theater productions, and modeling campaigns.

* ThoseTwoActors: Appeared with Matthew Macfadyen in ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice2005'', ''Film/AnnaKarenina'', and ''Film/TheNutcrackerAndTheFourRealms''.

* ''Film/Laggies'' (2014)

Keira Christina Knightley [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OBE]] (born March 26, 1985) is a British actress who became subject to [[StarMakingRole international recognition]] for her roles in ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'' (2002) and ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' (2003), followed by two sequels. She has since starred in a number of feature films, theater productions, and modeling campaigns.

* ''Official Secrets'' (2019)

Keira Christina Knightley (born March 26, 1985) is a British actress who became subject to [[StarMakingRole international recognition]] for her roles in ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'' (2002) and ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' (2003), followed by two sequels. She has since starred in a number of feature films, theater productions, and modeling campaigns.

* ContractualPurity: [[invoked]] Avoided. Despite starring in the Disney ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' franchise, she never ran into this. Possibly because in her previous projects she had already [[Film/TheHole bared her breasts (at fifteen!)]] or [[Film/BendItLikeBeckham been Mistaken For Gay]]. Notably after ''Pirates'' she did [[Film/KingArthur two]] [[Film/TheJacket films]] with sex scenes and then played a bounty hunter for ''{{Film/Domino}}'' (where she also appeared topless).
* CreatorBacklash: [[invoked]] She only did ''Film/NeverLetMeGo'' because her friend Creator/CareyMulligan asked her to, and said she couldn't relate to Ruth at all.
* DyeingForYourArt: [[invoked]]

* EnforcedMethodActing: [[invoked]] Keira joked that having food poisoning right before her audition for ''Film/TheJacket'' helped land her the part of a sickly alcoholic.
* FakeAmerican: [[invoked]] In ''Film/TheJacket'', ''Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit'' and ''Laggies''.
* FakeNationality: [[invoked]] She plays a New Zealander in ''{{Film/Everest2015}}''.
* FakeRussian: [[invoked]] Three times: she played Lara in the 2002 TV adaptation of ''Film/DoctorZhivago'', the Russian Jewish psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein in the 2011 movie ''Film/ADangerousMethod'', and the most famous example in ''Film/AnnaKarenina''.
* FunnyCharacterBoringActor: [[invoked]] Inverted. She has a recognisable image as a pouting {{Tsundere}} in various {{Costume Drama}}s. In real life she's "a real scruff" and hilarious in interviews. On ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow'' she and Creator/SamuelLJackson compared sex scenes, and on one of the ''Pirates'' commentaries she happily points out the one scene where her bra wasn't padded.

* PlayingAgainstType: [[invoked]] Her character in ''Film/SeekingAFriendForTheEndOfTheWorld'' is a perky, [[TheDitz airheaded]] slacker in a modern day type setting. Likewise ''{{Film/Everest 2015}}'' is a small role in an ensemble cast, where she plays the concerned wife.

* PlayingWithCharacterType: [[invoked]]

* ProductionPosse: [[invoked]] She starred in three Joe Wright films - ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice2005'', ''{{Film/Atonement}}'' and ''Film/AnnaKarenina''. Amusingly she doesn't star in ''{{Film/Pan}}'' - but she had played Tinker Bell in ''{{Series/Neverland}}''.
* RomanceOnTheSet: [[invoked]] Her and Rupert Friend while on the set of ''Pride And Prejudice'' (2005).
* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: [[invoked]] She played Creator/NataliePortman's decoy bodyguard in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''. Reportedly, when both actresses were in full makeup, not even their mothers could tell which was which. In fairness, a lot of those scenes involved ImpossiblyCoolClothes and UncannyValleyMakeup for whichever one was dressed up as queen; still, [[http://natalieportman.com/gallery2/g2data/albums/Movies/TPM/production-stills/decoy01.jpg you be the judge]]. She also apparently doubled for Padme in some scenes where Natalie wasn't available.
* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: [[invoked]] While often seen as good for her roles, ''The Imitation Game'' is where a lot of people took a step back and realized she could hold her own.
* StarMakingRole: [[invoked]] ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' got her an instant amount of fame, and ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice2005'' made her a critical darling.
* TypeCasting: [[invoked]] Need a SpiritedYoungLady ahead of her time in a costume drama? Keira is your girl. If it's not a period drama, she's normally a Type A {{Tsundere}}.
* UnderageCasting: [[invoked]] Early on in her career, due to being YoungerThanTheyLook, she played characters who were older than she was. In ''Film/LoveActually'' for example, she was eighteen, playing the love interest of the twenty-nine-year-old Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor and the thirty-three-year-old Creator/AndrewLincoln. Even in ''Film/TheHole'' she was fifteen playing someone a couple of years older than she was.

* CastingGag: She and Mathew Macfayden play brother and sister in ''Literature/AnnaKarenina''. They had played Lizzie and Darcy in ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'', also directed by Joe Wright.

* CharacterTics: A pout as an unconscious gesture of concentration. ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice" director Joe Wright had to ban Keira from pouting during the movie. She does it once but it's only because it was filmed by a second unit!

* HollywoodHypeMachine: After the success of ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', the hype machine got behind Keira big time. Her initial blockbuster roles didn't amount to much-- ''Film/KingArthur'', ''Film/TheJacket'', ''{{Film/Domino}}''. But she won critical acclaim for ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'' and managed to earn respect through more Joe Wright collaborations. While she does get typecast in period films, she's usually well-received and working steadily.

* TheMuse: To director Joe Wright. They've done three films together. ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'', ''Literature/{{Atonement}}'', and ''Film/AnnaKarenina''.

* ProductionPosse: [[invoked]] She starred in three Joe Wright films - ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'', ''{{Film/Atonement}}'' and ''Film/AnnaKarenina''. Amusingly she doesn't star in ''{{Film/Pan}}'' - but she had played Tinker Bell in ''{{Series/Neverland}}''.

* StarMakingRole: [[invoked]] ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' got her an instant amount of fame, and ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'' made her a critical darling.

* ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'' (2005)

* ''Film/{{Colette}}''

* UnderageCasting: [[Invoked]] Early on in her career, due to being YoungerThanTheyLook, she played characters who were older than she was. In ''Film/LoveActually'' for example, she was eighteen, playing the love interest of the twenty-nine-year-old Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor and the thirty-three-year-old Creator/AndrewLincoln. Even in ''Film/TheHole'' she was fifteen playing someone a couple of years older than she was.

** A director once described her as the younger version of Julie Christie.

* DawsonCasting: [[invoked]] Inverted. Early on in her career, due to being YoungerThanTheyLook, she played characters who were older than she was. In ''Film/LoveActually'' for example, she was eighteen, playing the love interest of the twenty-nine-year-old Chiwetel Ejiofor and the thirty-three-year-old Andrew Lincoln. Even in ''Film/TheHole'' she was fifteen playing someone a couple of years older than she was.

* FunnyCharacterBoringActor: [[invoked]] Inverted. She has a recognisable image as a pouting {{Tsundere}} in various {{Costume Drama}}s. In real life she's "a real scruff" and hilarious in interviews. On ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow'' she and Samuel L Jackson compared sex scenes, and on one of the ''Pirates'' commentaries she happily points out the one scene where her bra wasn't padded.

* ActorAllusion: In two films - ''Film/TheHole'' and ''{{Film/Atonement}}'' - she has a weird fate. [[spoiler: She's DeadAllAlong but the one responsible for this lies and writes a happy ending for her]].

* SheReallyCanAct: [[invoked]] While often seen as good for her roles, ''The Imitation Game'' is where a lot of people took a step back and realized she could hold her own.

Knightley oftentimes stars in {{period piece}}s playing a young woman [[ComingOfAgeStory approaching adulthood]], usually the SpiritedYoungLady or RebelliousPrincess. She married James Righton of the London-based band {{Music/Klaxons}} in May 2013, and gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Edie in 2015.

* CelebrityResemblance: To Creator/NataliePortman. At age twelve a then unknown Knightley was cast as Sabé, Queen Amidala's decoy in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' (1999), due to the strong resemblance between her and Portman, and it has persisted as they aged. Observers have also pointed out her similarity to Creator/WinonaRyder. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTfm8pIuPbY Keira added]] there are rare instances of being mistaken for Creator/KateWinslet or Music/BritneySpears) On ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZowEZKWmEVo Norton thought that]] her resemblance to Portman would have ruined her career because "We've got one of those already!" and Keira joked the reason it didn't was because she "grew two feet taller" and became the "stretched version"!

* ContractualPurity: [[invoked]] Avoided. Despite starring in the Disney ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' franchise, she never run into this. Possibly because in her previous projects she had already [[Film/TheHole bared her breasts (at fifteen!)]] or [[Film/BendItLikeBeckham been Mistaken For Gay]]. Notably after ''Pirates'' she did [[Film/KingArthur two]] [[Film/TheJacket films]] with sex scenes and then played a bounty hunter for ''{{Film/Domino}}''.

* FunnyCharacterBoringActor: [[invoked]] Inverted. She has a recognisable image as a pouting {{Tsundere}} in various {{Costume Drama}}s. In real life she's "a real scruff" and hilarious in interviews. On ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow'' she and Samuel L Jackson compared sex scenes, and on one of the ''Pirates'' commentaries she happily points out the one scene where her bra wasn't padded.

* FakeNationality: [[invoked]] plays a New Zealander in ''{{Film/Everest2015}}''.
* FakeRussian: [[invoked]] Three times: she played Lara in 2002 tv adaptation of ''Film/DoctorZhivago'', the Russian Jewish psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein in the 2011 movie ''Film/ADangerousMethod'' and the most famous example in ''Film/AnnaKarenina''.

* IAmVeryBritish: Sports this type of voice in a lot of her films, especially the period ones. Her real voice, not so much.
* JailBait: Bared her breasts at fifteen years old for the British thriller ''Film/TheHole''.

* PeriodPiece: Has appeared in many, to the point where she might even be typecast in such films. Most of her movies are set at various points in the past, ranging from 400 A.D. to the 1990s, but are usually around the 1700s or 1800s. She says she was worried about her typecasting at first, but has come to embrace it, saying she enjoys learning about history, and that there are worse things to be typecast in.

** For a long time she was typecast as a PluckyGirl ahead of her time in various period pieces. In ''Film/TheDuchess'' she starts off as this type...and then runs into the sexist and oppressive laws of the time.

* RomanceOnTheSet: [[invoked]] Rupert Friend on the set of ''Pride And Prejudice'' (2005).

* ContractualPurity: Avoided. Despite starring in the Disney ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' franchise, she never run into this. Possibly because in her previous projects she had already [[Film/TheHole bared her breasts (at fifteen!)]] or [[Film/BendItLikeBeckham been Mistaken For Gay]]. Notably after ''Pirates'' she did [[Film/KingArthur two]] [[Film/TheJacket films]] with sex scenes and then played a bounty hunter for ''{{Film/Domino}}''.
* CreatorBacklash: She only did ''Film/NeverLetMeGo'' because her friend Creator/CareyMulligan asked her to, and said she couldn't relate to Ruth at all.
* DawsonCasting: Inverted. Early on in her career, due to being YoungerThanTheyLook, she played characters who were older than she was. In ''Film/LoveActually'' for example, she was eighteen, playing the love interest of the twenty-nine-year-old Chiwetel Ejiofor and the thirty-three-year-old Andrew Lincoln. Even in ''Film/TheHole'' she was fifteen playing someone a couple of years older than she was.
* DyeingForYourArt:

* EnforcedMethodActing: Keira joked that having food poisoning right before her audition for ''Film/TheJacket'' helped land her the part of a sickly alcoholic.
* FunnyCharacterBoringActor: Inverted. She has a recognisable image as a pouting {{Tsundere}} in various {{Costume Drama}}s. In real life she's "a real scruff" and hilarious in interviews. On ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow'' she and Samuel L Jackson compared sex scenes, and on one of the ''Pirates'' commentaries she happily points out the one scene where her bra wasn't padded.
* FakeAmerican: In ''Film/TheJacket'', ''Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit'' and ''Laggies''.
* FakeNationality: She plays a New Zealander in ''{{Film/Everest2015}}''.
* FakeRussian: Three times: she played Lara in 2002 tv adaptation of ''Film/DoctorZhivago'', the Russian Jewish psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein in the 2011 movie ''Film/ADangerousMethod'' and the most famous example in ''Film/AnnaKarenina''.

* PlayingAgainstType: Her character in ''Film/SeekingAFriendForTheEndOfTheWorld'' is a perky, [[TheDitz airheaded]] slacker in a modern day type setting. Likewise ''{{Film/Everest 2015}}'' is a small role in an ensemble cast, where she plays the concerned wife.

* PlayingWithCharacterType:

* ProductionPosse: She starred in three Joe Wright films - ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'', ''{{Film/Atonement}}'' and ''Film/AnnaKarenina''. Amusingly she doesn't star in ''{{Film/Pan}}'' - but she had played Tinker Bell in ''{{Series/Neverland}}''.
* RomanceOnTheSet: Rupert Friend on the set of ''Pride And Prejudice'' (2005).
* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: She played Creator/NataliePortman's decoy bodyguard in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''. Reportedly, when both actresses were in full makeup, not even their mothers could tell which was which. In fairness, a lot of those scenes involved ImpossiblyCoolClothes and UncannyValleyMakeup for whichever one was dressed up as queen; still, [[http://natalieportman.com/gallery2/g2data/albums/Movies/TPM/production-stills/decoy01.jpg you be the judge]]. She also apparently doubled for Padme in some scenes where Natalie wasn't available.
* SheReallyCanAct: While often seen as good for her roles, ''The Imitation Game'' is where a lot of people took a step back and realized she could hold her own.
* StarMakingRole: ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' got her an instant amount of fame, and ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'' made her a critical darling.
* TypeCasting: Need a SpiritedYoungLady ahead of her time in a costume drama? Keira is your girl. If it's not a period drama, she's normally a Type A {{Tsundere}}.

* CelebrityResemblance: To Creator/NataliePortman. At age twelve a then unknown Knightley was cast as Sabé, Queen Amidala's decoy in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' (1999), due to the strong resemblance between her and Portman, and it has persisted as they aged. Observers have also pointed out her similarity to WinonaRyder. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTfm8pIuPbY Keira added]] there are rare instances of being mistaken for Creator/KateWinslet or Music/BritneySpears) On ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZowEZKWmEVo Norton thought that]] her resemblance to Portman would have ruined her career because "We've got one of those already!" and Keira joked the reason it didn't was because she "grew two feet taller" and became the "stretched version"!

* UsefulNotes/AcademyAward: Nomination for Best Actress for ''Pride and Prejudice'' and Best Supporting Actress for ''The Imitation Game''.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' (2003)

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'' (2006)

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'' (2007)

Knightley's first role was in ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ThePhantomMenace'' playing NataliePortman's character's decoy/body double, and they continue to share a strong resemblance.

* ''Film/{{Everest 2015}}'' (2015)

'''Keira Christina Knightley''' (born March 26, 1985) is a British actress who became subject to [[StarMakingRole international recognition]] for her roles in ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'' (2002) and ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' (2003), followed by two sequels. She has since starred in a number of feature films, theater productions, and modeling campaigns.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWordsEnd'' (2007)