Biography
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY (Thérèse) made her West End theatrical debut in Martin Crimp’s translation of Molière’s comedy The Misanthrope, staged by Thea Sharrock at the Comedy Theatre in London, in December 2009. She received an Olivier Award nomination as well as an Evening Standard Award nomination for the Natasha Richardson Award. In January 2011, Knightley returned to the Comedy Theatre and starred in Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour, staged by Ian Rickson. Knightley can next be seen in Lynn Shelton’s Laggies opposite Chloe Grace Moretz and Sam Rockwell, which is set to release October 24, 2014. This fall she can be seen in Morten Tyldum’s Imitation Game starring opposite Benedict Cumberbatch. In this biographical drama, Knightley will play Joan Clarke. This film follows Alan Turing (Cumberbatch) and his brilliant team at Britain's top-secret code-breaking center, Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II. The film premiered at the 2014 Telluride Film festival to positive reviews as well assnagging the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival and Hamptons International Film Festival. Weinstein is set to release the film on November 21, 2014. She recently wrapped production on Baltasar Kormákur’s Everest starring opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Robin Wright. Universal is set to release the film September 18, 2015. Knightley was recently seen in John Carney’s Begin Again opposite Mark Ruffalo. The music-centered story follows Gretta (Knightley) who moves with her longtime boyfriend to New York but is heartbroken when her boyfriend dumps her for fame and fortune. Her world takes a turn for the better when a down-on-his-luck record producer (Ruffalo) stumbles upon her singing in a local bar and is immediately captivated together becoming each other's last chance to turn their lives around. The film premiered and was sold at last year's Toronto International Film Festival and was released by the Weinstein Company on July 4, 2014. Previously, Knightley starred in Joe Wright’s adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Pride & Prejudice. She earned Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet. Two years later, she was a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominee for her performance as Cecilia Tallis in Atonement. Additionally, she starred in Wright’s Anna Karenina, based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy and adapted by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard. Knightley’s breakout movie role was in Gurinder Chadha’s Bend It Like Beckham, for which she won the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards’ British Newcomer of the Year prize. Audiences worldwide took notice of Knightley as the heroine Elizabeth Swann in Gore Verbinski’s, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, starring opposite Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush. The film grossed more than $654 million worldwide. Knightley reprised her role in the franchises 2006 and 2007 sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. She later reteamed with the film’s producer Jerry Bruckheimer on Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur; and was part of the ensemble cast of Richard Curtis’ Love Actually. Her subsequent movies have included John Maybury’s The Jacket and The Edge of Love; Kenneth Branagh’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit; François Girard’s Silk; Saul Dibb’s The Duchess, for which she earned a British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actress; Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, for which she was again a BIFA Award nominee; Massy Tadjedin’s Last Night; William Monahan’s London Boulevard; David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method; and Lorene Scafaria’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, in which she starred opposite Steve Carell. She landed her first feature film role at the age of 10, in Patrick Dewolf’s Innocent Lies. Knightley then starred in Nick Hamm’s The Hole, with Thora Birch, and Gillies MacKinnon’s Pure; and appeared alongside Natalie Portman in George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
