Keira Knightley is a famous British Hollywood
actress who has won not only prestigious movie awards, but also millions of hearts around the
world. Her exquisite looks, rebellious spirit, and acting talent allow her to land a wide variety of
roles effortlessly. In this video we'll cover the career and personal life of this talented British
woman. Keira Knightley - how the Pirates of the Caribbean star lives and how much she earns.
Keira Christina Knightley was born on March 26, 1985 in the suburbs of London to British actors
Will Knightley and Sharman Macdonald. By then, the couple already had a six-year-old son, Caleb.
The girl was named after Kira Ivanova, the first Soviet figure skater to become an Olympic
medalist. It's no surprise, because at that time half of Europe was rooting for the charming
young athlete. She was meant to be named "Kiera", the anglicized form of "Kira", however, her mother
misspelled the name when she registered the birth certificate, writing the e before the i.
From a very early age, Caleb and Keira were immersed in theater life. Parents not only
took them to all sorts of plays, but also taught their children the basics of acting skills.
Feeling experienced enough to be an actress, three-year-old Keira demanded to hire herself
a theater agent. And she did get one, though not until three years later. But by the time she
was seven, in 1991, she starred in the TV series Screen One, in the episode Royal Celebration. The
role was small, but it served as a great stepping stone to the start of her brilliant career. Over
the next 8 years, Knightley was busy appearing in British TV series, commercials, and even getting
small roles on the big screen: for example, in the films A Village Affair, Innocent Lies, and The
Treasure Seekers. Meanwhile, the girl was doing great in school. While still in preschool, she was
diagnosed with dyslexia, a very common condition among gifted people that impairs the ability to
read and write. The parents devoted a lot of time and effort to working with their daughter, thanks
to which the condition was completely eliminated, and the efforts made allowed the girl to become
an excellent student at school. In 1999, Keira starred in George Lucas' legendary blockbuster
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. She got the role of the maid and body double of Queen
Padme, played by Natalie Portman. The two girls looked so strikingly similar that even their
own mothers could not tell them apart in makeup, and the audience and critics were convinced
that both roles were played by Portman. In the same year, the British mini-series Oliver
Twist was released, in which Keira played the role of young Rose Fleming. In 2001, the British
thriller The Hole hit theaters, where the actress got one of the main roles. During the filming
of this movie guy-actors liked to walk around half-naked in front of the actress, who was 15
years old at the time, which infuriated her. In the same year, the audience saw Knightley
in the TV movie Princess of Thieves in the role of brave bandit Gwyn. On the set of
this movie, Keira had her first intense relationship with Irish actor Del Synnott,
which lasted two years, but ended in a breakup. 2002 was a fruitful year in terms of premieres.
The actress starred in the drama Pure and in a mini-series based on Boris Pasternak's novel
Doctor Zhivago as Lara Antipova. At that time, the actress was only 17 years old, and it
was her first time to go to the shooting by herself. The footage was filmed
in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and in Prague the actress was placed in the
red-light district for some reason. Then the girl met and befriended a local lady of the night who
lured customers under Keira's windows every night. The actress also tried her hand at the unusual
genre of sports comedy, starring in the movie Bend It Like Beckham. The famous athlete did appear
in the movie as himself, though only for a few seconds, which probably helped it gross a decent
box office of almost $77 million. Keira herself finally gained wide popularity after this movie.
In 2002, the actress graduated from high school and enrolled at Esher College to study history,
art and English literature. However, it wasn't so easy to combine education and filming,
and in the second year of study she had to make a difficult choice in favor of cinema.
In 2003, the actress appeared in one of the short stories of the movie Love Actually,
which also starred Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Martin Freeman and other screen stars.
Many viewers noticed the huge dark blue hat on Knightley's head. It turns out that this
accessory was not the director's idea at all, and served as a disguise for a large pimple that
popped up on the forehead of the actress right before the shooting. Many years later, Keira
laughingly recounted this in an interview, jokingly commenting on the incident, "This is
the problem with being 17 and being in films." However, the young actress had no problems
with finding new boyfriends. In 2003, she began dating musician and future star of the
movie 50 Shades of Grey, Jamie Dornan, but after two years of relationship, the actors broke up.
In the same year, the first installment of the adventure saga Pirates of the Caribbean: The
Curse of the Black Pearl was released. The movie was inspired by a Disneyland ride called
Pirates of the Caribbean. Walt Disney himself was involved in the creation of the attraction,
and it opened shortly after his death in 1967. The world premiere of the film took place
on June 28, 2003 at Disneyland, after which the attraction was closed for renovation,
expecting a large number of fan visitors. The path from the idea to the realization of
the movie was quite long. The creators of the film tried to sell the idea to movie companies
back in the 90's, but were rejected. Initially, the project was called just Pirates of the
Caribbean, but in the process of filming it became clear that there would be sequels, so they added
the mention of a pirate ship to the main title. Keira Knightley got the lead female role, and she
brilliantly portrayed the gentle but courageous Elizabeth Swann. Keira's casual look with her
short haircut didn't quite fit the image of the governor's young daughter, so the 18-year-old
actress wore a wig on camera. By the way, her casting competitor was beautiful Jessica
Alba, but director Gore Verbinski liked Keira very much and gave the role to her.
The movie turned out to be vivid, fast-paced and memorable, bringing in $654 million
at the box office on a budget of $140 million, as well as 5 Oscar nominations and one Golden
Globe nomination. The BAFTA Awards jury gave the movie the award for Best Makeup and also
nominated it in 4 other categories, including Best Special Effects. The actress also received
nominations for the MTV Channel Award and Saturn. Despite the fact that after the release of the
film, Knightley became really famous worldwide, her next films were unsuccessful. The historical
drama King Arthur and the thriller The Jacket were poorly received by critics and audiences
alike and flopped at the box office. Keira got back into the game almost immediately. In
2005, the drama Pride & Prejudice premiered, based on the work of the same name by Jane
Austen. The role of Elizabeth Bennett was especially important for Keira, as she always
felt a remarkable connection with the character, bordering on obsession. But director Joe Wright
initially doubted the choice: Knightley had already started filming for the action movie
Domino and as a result had a short haircut and prominent muscles. It all changed by a personal
meeting, after which Joe was absolutely mesmerized by the girl. The hair issue was again solved with
a wig, and strong arms were concealed by the long sleeves of the dresses. Needless to say, Keira
went all-in on this role. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her superb acting and was
also nominated for an Oscar for the first time. The movie received a total of four nominations,
enjoyed an enthusiastic reception from audiences, and grossed $120 million at the box office.
She was riding a wave of success, when the biographical action movie Domino premiered.
The story of an English bounty huntress, rebel and daughter of the famous actor Lawrence
Harvey with an unusual name Domino interested director Tony Scott. He found Ms. Harvey in
Beverly Hills and persuaded her to sell the screen rights to her life for $360,000. Knightley
received a fee of 2 million for this role, and her co-star was infamous Mickey Rourke. But
neither a compelling story nor Domino herself being on the set helped the movie take off, and it
failed miserably at the box office. The box office barely made it to half of the budget spent. By the
way, Knightley's character's prototype has never seen the film - at the time of its release, she
died of a painkiller overdose at the age of 35. At the same time, Keira ended her
year-long relationship with American actor Adrien Brody. And then, in 2005, she
found a new boyfriend, British actor Rupert Friend. The couple stayed together for five years.
In 2006, the audience saw a sequel to the pirate action movie titled Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Man's Chest. By the way, the second and third installments were filmed at the same time,
and their total budget amounted to about 450 million. After the release of the first movie, it
was obvious to everyone that the movie company had stumbled upon a gold mine, and fans were literally
going crazy with impatience to see more adventures of the beloved characters. Box office receipts
also didn't disappoint: the film grossed 1 billion dollars. The creators of the film won an Academy
Award for visual effects, and Keira was nominated for an MTV Channel Award. It is unknown how much
she earned for the role, but her fee for the third movie, which was released the following year,
amounted to 5 million. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End also grossed almost 1 billion, and
the actress was nominated for an MTV Movie Awards. In 2007, Keira starred in the drama Silk and
military drama Atonement, based on the novel by contemporary British writer Ian McEwan. The film
was again directed by Joe Wright, who was honored to open the Venice Film Festival with his film.
The movie generated a storm of positive reviews and won numerous awards, including an Oscar, two
Golden Globes and over two dozen nominations. Keira has been nominated for a Golden Globe as
Best Actress, a BAFTA, and an Empire Film Award. However, the actress didn't get along
well with the Daily Mail. In 2007, Keira sued the publication after a picture of
her in a bikini was placed next to an article about a woman who blamed slim celebrities
for her daughter's death from anorexia. She eventually won the trial, receiving compensation
that she donated to an eating disorder foundation. Many years later, the celebrity admitted that
during that period she had a nervous breakdown, and later she was diagnosed with post-traumatic
stress disorder, caused by the sudden fame that fell upon her. She had been unable to leave the
house for months and underwent hypnotherapy to deal with panic attacks that occurred during her
outings. The girl was also very self-conscious when people discussed her body. Movie companies
even enlarged her breasts on movie posters, which infuriated Keira. She sees no
point in hiding her natural forms and now demands not to make them bigger than they are.
In 2008, the biographical drama The Edge of Love was released, the script for which was written
by Keira's mother Sherman McDonald. But the film wasn't successful and went virtually unnoticed.
The next bright role in Knightley's filmography was Georgiana Cavendish in the melodrama The
Duchess. The movie was heavily banked on from the beginning. The studio bought the screen rights,
paying $7 million, and the film's promotion opaquely hinted at Cavendish's family ties to
Princess Diana, hoping to attract the attention of her army of fans. Knightley vehemently
opposed this publicity move, saying that the Duchess is interesting in her own right, with
no ties to the story of Britain's late favorite. In 2010, the melodrama Last Night premiered,
starring Keira Knightley from England, Sam Worthington from Australia, Eva Mendes
of Cuban descent, and Guillaume Canet from France. But the multinational cast and
tear-jerking plot didn't help the movie. Audience reviews were very lukewarm, with box
office receipts totaling just over 7 million. Next came the crime drama London Boulevard with
Knightley, which the public characterized as "a bunch of nonsense" and a "searing disappointment."
The movie Never Let Me Go also suffered the same fate. It was released in 2010 and brought the
actress a nomination for the Saturn Award. The sci-fi comedy Seeking a Friend for the End
of the World was released in 2012 and wasn't successful either. Between these films there
was a mini-series Neverland, in which Keira voiced Tinker Bell, and the historical drama
A Dangerous Method, which tells about the difficult relationship between the founders of
psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. But Keira's performance has sparked great discussions
behind the scenes of various film festivals. Experts agreed that the actress severely overacted
and looked extremely unnatural. The members of the Saturn Awards jury were of a different opinion:
they nominated Knightley for Best Actress. In February 2011, Keira Knightley had a
fateful acquaintance with the vocalist and keyboardist of the British indie rock band
Klaxons James Righton. But more on that later. In 2012, the drama Anna Karenina was released,
directed again by Joe Wright. In this movie, Keira co-starred with Jude Law and received a
nomination for the European Film Academy Award. Then the audience saw the movie Begin Again. In
this musical comedy drama, Keira replaced Scarlett Johansson, who dropped out of the project. The
film was generally well-received by both critics and audiences, allowing it to earn $63 million at
the box office, 8 times the film's budget. And on May 4, 2013, James Righton and Keira Knightley
had a wedding in the town of Mazan in the south of France. The celebration was modest, only
the closest friends of the couple were invited, and the bride even decided to reject the classic
outfit in favor of an elegant, but strict jacket and a light dress by Chanel. After being married
at the local municipality, the husband and wife and their guests went to celebrate the occasion
at an estate owned by the Knightley family. 120 bottles of wine and champagne were purchased for
the buffet. The ring that the groom gave to the bride was inherited from his grandmother, but
Keira was especially touched by another gift. James gave her a 100-year-old olive tree
that he had planted in the garden of the French estate. On the trunk, the man touchingly
scratched their initials and their wedding date. 2014 brought Keira three interesting
premieres at once. The action movie Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and romantic comedy-drama Laggies
directed by Lynn Shelton were released. The main role in it was originally given to Anne
Hathaway, but the actress refused it due to the filming of Interstellar and Song One.
Another gem of that year was the biographical war drama The Imitation Game. The movie was
based on Andrew Hodges' book Alan Turing: The Enigma. The story of breaking the code of
the German Enigma encryption machine during World War II attracted a lot of attention from movie
experts, and Knightley's performance received nominations for an Oscar, Satellite, Golden Globe,
BAFTA and an Actors Guild Award. The movie earned $233 million at the box office. Notably, the
niece of the famous English mathematician, whose story is told in the movie, completely
disagreed with the choice of Knightley for the role of Joan Clarke, saying that her uncle's
colleague was much more straightforward than the character created by the actress.
Then the actress's filmography featured a movie of a very unusual genre for her -
the biographical survival adventure Everest, which tells of the tragedy that occurred with
the expedition of New Zealand mountaineer Rob Hall in 1996. Interestingly enough, the scenes
with the actress were filmed in just 6 days. In May 2015, there was a pleasant change in
the Knightley-Righton family - the couple had a daughter, whom the happy parents named Edie. After
the child's birth, Keira quickly recovered and resumed her acting career. In 2016, director David
Frankel released the drama Phantom Beauty starring her among other stars, including Helen Mirren,
Will Smith, Kate Winslet, and Edward Norton. In 2017, there was the premiere of the
fifth installment of the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No
Tales. To the great disappointment of the fans, the film was heavily inferior to its predecessors
and received mostly negative reviews. By the way, Keira only appeared in a small scene at the end
of the movie as Elizabeth, Will Turner's wife. It would be reasonable to put an end to the outdated
franchise, but there is talk of filming the sixth installment of the pirate saga, titled A Day
At The Sea. Jack Sparrow, Will and Elizabeth Turner are indicated as the main characters.
However, it is reported that this will be the first movie without Johnny Depp, and it's still
unknown who will replace the charismatic actor. In 2018, there was the premiere of the adventure
family film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, in which the actress played Sugar Plum Fairy,
as well as another biopic, which recounts the fate of the French writer Colette.
The following August, Keira gave birth to James' second daughter, who was named Delilah.
Knightley admitted that it's much more difficult to deal with two children and it was far from
easy to combine motherhood with work. She had a particularly difficult time shooting in the
movie Official Secrets, released in early 2019. That same year, she starred in the romantic
anthology Berlin, I Love You, as well as the war drama The Aftermath. In this movie, her character
appears nude to the audience, but the body doesn't belong to Knightley, but to her double.
The following year saw the release of the comedy Misbehaviour, followed in 2021 by the
drama Silent Night and the animated feature film about a German-Jewish artist during World War II,
Charlotte. In it, Keira voiced the main character. Boston Strangler, a crime thriller
based on true events, premiered in 2023. The movie is on the Hulu platform and
has received mixed reviews from the audience. Fans are eagerly awaiting the release of new films
with Knightley: the crime thriller Candy Store, the series The Other Typist, in which she acts
as a producer, and Black Doves are in production. Due to the high demand and productivity of
the actress, her fortune is now estimated at $80 million. Her revenue growth dynamics are
quite high. Thus, compared to 2019 figures, her fees have almost doubled. Meticulous analysts
also calculated that Keira earns 100 times more than her spouse. Apart from filming, the beautiful
actress is quite popular with advertisers. She became the face of the advertising campaign
of the legendary perfume Chanel Mademoiselle, as well as jewelry and makeup of
the same brand. At the age of 18, she promoted the British jewelry house Asprey, and
then became the protagonist of a commercial for the Scottish brand Black Dog Whiskey. In addition
to all this, Keira also plays in the theater. Keira is no stranger to being altruistic, and in
2018 she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama and charity.
The actress was previously involved in a campaign against domestic violence. The two-minute
movie tells the story of an actress who, after a long day at work, is assaulted by her
partner who accuses her of infidelity. This issue, which, like a virus has affected almost all parts
of society, hits close to Knightley's heart. In 2015, Keira Knightley and Emma Watson joined
the charity Women for Women, which launched a campaign for stars to sell their branded clothing
to benefit women in countries at war. Among the items were Keira's favorite Christian Louboutin
shoes, which she only wore on special occasions. And in 2020, she joined the Amnesty campaign
to find the UK's most inspiring human rights activists across the country. These days, the
actress is very much concerned about what is going on in the world. After the publication
of the diaries of 12-year-old Yeva Skalietska from Kharkov entitled You Don't Know What War
Is, Keira volunteered to voice the audiobook. To maintain her family's privacy, Keira
Knightley doesn't have any official social media accounts. Unlike her colleagues,
she doesn't strive for excessive luxury, remaining committed to a rather modest life. She
is sure that money spoils people and tries not to lose her sense of moderation, even when living
in wealth. However, her garage contains five vehicles. The legendary car Porsche 911 Carrera
4S, has a special place in the actress's heart. It's equipped with a 3-liter six-cylinder engine,
boasting 443 horsepower. The actress also owns a luxury sedan Mercedes-Benz S-class, which not only
has a stylish exterior and comfortable interior, but also impressive technical performance. Another
piece in her collection is a creation of the General Motors Group, the Yukon XL SUV, popular
in the US. Keira also has a Hyundai Tucson, which is quite modest in comparison. It's an
unassuming, everyday Korean SUV, a great choice for city driving. It has also been reported
that she owns a comfortable Range Rover Sport. As for real estate, the Righton-Nightley
couple owned a house in London in a lively neighborhood in the East End, which is considered
a destination for intellectuals and people of the arts. Keira bought it in 2012 for $3 million
from famous English actress Samantha Morton, but soon after she put it back on the market.
In 2014, the star couple purchased a nice three-story 18th century mansion worth nearly $6
million in the Canonbury neighborhood of Greater London. Five cozy bedrooms with fireplaces,
four bathrooms, a kitchen-dining room, a spacious living room and a wine cellar make
it very much like the timeless home of a typical respectable English family. The interior of the
home is absolutely classic and is done in light shades with occasional accent pieces.
Until 2017, Knightley owned a luxury apartment in New York City, which she sold for
$6 million. The reason for the sale is unknown and many are perplexed as to how they could
part with such an amazing place to live. This two-story apartment is located in the heart of
Manhattan and is furnished as comfortably and tastefully as possible. Light modern geometry,
soft colors of finishes combined with noble wood and bright accents in textiles and furniture
make this place truly unique. The property exceeds 3,800 square feet and features three
bedrooms, a huge kitchen, a private patio and striking 23-foot ceilings. In all the homes of the
family reigns an atmosphere of elegant restraint, peace and warmth, seasoned with good taste, which
the actress brings in everything she touches. Keira Knightley is a very bright, talented
and hardworking actress. She is successful not only in her profession but also in her
family life, which is a rarity in the movie industry. She is particularly good at historical
movies. There are persistent rumors in Hollywood that the legendary Barbra Streisand is going
to make a movie about Catherine the Great, in which Knightley may play the lead role. Do
you think Keira would portray the Empress well?
