Keira Christina Knightley was born on March 26, 1985, in Teddington, London, England, to actor Will Knightley and playwright Sharman Macdonald. Her father is English, and her mother is Scottish. Knightley has dyslexia, which she overcame with dedicated support and tutoring. She expressed an early interest in acting, leading to her securing an agent at the age of six.
Knightley began her acting career with small roles in television shows and films during the early to mid-1990s. Her early appearances included roles in “A Village Affair” (1995), “Innocent Lies” (1995), and “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (1999) as Sabé, Padmé Amidala’s decoy. Her breakthrough role came in 2002 with the sports film “Bend It Like Beckham,” which gained international recognition.
Knightley achieved widespread fame in 2003 with her portrayal of Elizabeth Swann in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” This role established her as a leading actress in Hollywood. She continued to star in the subsequent “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequels: “Dead Man’s Chest” (2006), “At World’s End” (2007), and a cameo in “Dead Men Tell No Tales” (2017).
Knightley has appeared in a variety of critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, demonstrating her range as an actress. Some of her notable roles include: