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Top 10 Facts about Keira Knightley 

Keira Knight is an English actress who is best known for accepting roles in period dramas. The tall, slim and beautiful actress definitely knows how to pull off an epic period costume. Some of the historical films she鈥檚 starred in include Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, Anna Karenina, and The Duchess. 

Her extraordinary acting abilities are not limited to period dramas, as she has also worked on both independent films and blockbusters such as Love Actually and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Keira鈥檚 brilliant acting abilities have earned her nominations for two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. 

Keira began her acting career at a young age by appearing in commercials and television films. She got her own agent at the age of six. Her breakthrough role came when she portrayed a tomboy footballer in the sports film Bend It Like Beckham (2002). 

To learning more on the talented British actress, check out the top 10 facts about Keira Knightley;  

1. Her birth was somewhat of a bet

Keira attends the BAFTA’S 2008 – Wikipedia

Imagine barely making it in the entertainment world and already having a son to provide for, and then your spouse suggests you get a second born. With that in might, you can understand why Will, Knightley鈥檚 father, had to set a condition before the birth of the two-time Oscar nominated actress. 

Knightley鈥檚 mother was desperate for another child, but her father was not very welcoming to the idea because of the financially difficulties they were experiencing. As a compromise, her father agreed they could have another child if his wife, an actor and screenplay writer, sold a script first. 

Driven by her desire for a second child, Sharman, Knightley鈥檚 mother, wrote and sold a play titled When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout. Keira Christina Knightley was born on 26 March 1985 in the London suburb of Teddington.  

2. Imitation is the best form of flattery

Keira Knightley attends the premiere of Atonement, 2007 – Wikimedia Commons

Keira Knightley was born to stage actors Will Knightley and Sharman Macdonald. She has an older brother known as Caleb. Will Knightley is an English television and stage actor who primarily worked on the stage, and is a founding member of London’s Half Moon Theatre. 

Sharman Macdonald is a Scottish playwright, screenwriter, and actress. Her mother has written on projects such as the 2008 movie, The Edge of Love (in which Knightley starred as one of the leading roles) and acted in television series such as The Olympian Way. 

Being introduced into theater and ballet from a young age, the two children were inspired to join the entertainment world. Knightley was so focused on becoming an actor, confessing she was “single-minded about acting”. When Knightley was just three years old, she requested to have an agent, thinking it was the normal thing to have as both her parents had one of their own, and she was able to secured one at six. 

Her older brother has worked in the sound department for a range of short films. 

3. Interesting story behind her name

Keira Knightley at the 2011 Venice Film Festival – Wikipedia

Keira is such a unique and original name, but she was meant to be named “Kiera”, the anglicised form of “Kira”, after the Soviet figure skater Kira Ivanova, whom her father admired. However, her mother misspelled the name when she registered her daughter’s birth certificate, writing the e before the I. 

During her 2020 People Magazine interview, she explained, “I was meant to be named 鈥楰iera,鈥� after a Russian ice skater who was on the TV one day. My dad fancied her and nicked her name for me. But it was my mum who went to register my birth, and she accidentally spelled 鈥榚i鈥� instead of 鈥榠e鈥� because my mum鈥檚 crap at spelling.鈥� 

She continued, 鈥淎pparently, when she came back, he said: 鈥榳hat the f鈥�? You鈥檝e spelt her name wrong!鈥� What were they going to do, though? Once it鈥檚 on the piece of paper, it鈥檚 on the piece of paper. And that鈥檚 me. A spelling error.鈥� 

Fortunately, the error played in favor with Keira making her distinct in her field. In addition, in 2006, the year after Pride and Prejudice came out, 鈥淜eira鈥� nearly broke the top 100 female baby names in the U.S. 

4. College drop-out

Keira Knightley at the Anna Karenina World Premiere in London, September 2012 – Wikimedia Commons

Knightley began studying her A-Levels at Esher College, but left after a year to pursue an acting career after landing a role in a television adaptation of Doctor Zhivago. Doctor Zhivago is a 1965 epic historical romance film based on the 1957 novel by Boris Pasternak. The story is set in Russia during World War I and the Russian Civil War. 

She was only 17 when she took up the role of portraying Lara Antipova. For her performance, she was hailed as the new Julie Christie, an iconic sixties British actress. 

After she was offered another attractive part in Bend It Like Beckham, and her career was launched, she did not return to complete her A-levels. In regard to not completing university, Keira has always felt like it left her ‘with a chip on her shoulder’ and she hopes to prove herself to be brainy by reading more. 

Knightley has been able to achieve so much success within her professional career, helped so many people through her philanthropic works and inspired thousands, thus she should cut herself some slack and not be burdened so much by not completing her A-levels. Also, if it feels right to her, she can always register for her A-levels.  

5. Battle With Dyslexia

Knightley attending the premiere of A Dangerous Method, 2011 – Wikipedia

Knightley was diagnosed with dyslexia at age six. Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one’s age. Treatment involves adjusting teaching methods to meet the person’s needs. Man famous and successful people suffer from dyslexia.

During this time Knightley struggled a lot as many of her classmates called her stupid since she was unable to read words that her classmates found easy. She felt inferior to her classmates and ended up dropping to the bottom of her class. 

To motivate a young Knightley to improve her reading, her parents struck a deal with her where if she was able to learn to read, her parents would enroll her in acting classes during summer holidays. For the challenge, Knightley used the screenplay of Emma Thompson鈥檚 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility as her reading tool. 

Today, she is still a slow reader and cannot read out loud. However, she has such an impressive list of books that she has read including; a biography of Albert Speer, the man known as the first architect of the Third Reich, and a history of the Vietnam War. 

6. She is the fifth-youngest Oscar nominee

Knightley speaking at a BAFTA event in 2015 – Wikipedia

In 2006, Knightley received an Academy Award nomination for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” for her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in 2005鈥檚 Pride & Prejudice. At the time of the nomination, Knighley was on 20 years old, making her the fifth-youngest actress in Oscar history to receive this honor.  

The director Joe Wright cast Knightley for her tomboyish nature combined with a “lively mind” and sense of humor which is in direct comparison to the character Elizabeth Bennet who is bold, intelligent, and independent, with a witty sense of humor. 

Sadly, Knightley nomination for an Oscar came with increased media scrutiny, and she later admitted to experiencing struggles with her mental health at this time. 

Knightley鈥檚 second Academy Award nomination was for 鈥淏est Supporting Actress鈥� for her role as Joan Clarke in The Imitation Game, a 2014 American historical drama film based on the 1983 biography Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. 

7. Often mistaken as Natalie Portman

Portman at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival – Wikipedia

To begin with, who is Natalie Portman? Natalie is an Oscar-winning actress known for her starring roles as Evey Hammond in V for Vendetta (2005), Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), and a troubled ballerina in the psychological horror film Black Swan (2010). 

People first noticed that Knightley and Portman had many physical similarities in 1999, when Star Wars: The Phantom Menace came out. Portman portrayed Queen Padm茅, and Knightley played Sab茅, Padm茅’s handmaiden. 

During the filming of the movie Portman was 16, and Knightley was 12 thus they had to be accompanied by a guardian on set, their moms had a hard time telling them apart. Also, the two character’s switched roles during crises where Sab茅 dressed as the Queen, and the Queen wore the handmaiden’s clothes. 

Both actresses have admitted that people frequently mistake them for one another, but are they really identical except for the fact that they are both brunettes, have doe-like eyes and lithe frames? The two have different facial features, and Knighley is taller than Portman. 

8. She has an OBE

Knightley at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival – Wikipedia

In 2018, Knightley received an OBE, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for her services to drama and charity, in an investiture ceremony held at Buckingham Palace. She was presented with the honour by Prince Charles. 

Receiving an OBE is a great achievement, as it not only recognition for outstanding service to the community or being a leader in your field, it is also a great encouragement to do even better. 

For the ceremony, Knightley wore a lemon-yellow Chanel suit paired with a matching hat and a white shirt with a black ribbon detail. 

9. Absence from social media

Phone displaying different social media accounts – Unsplash

Considering today we live in a society where even toddlers are on social media, it is a shock to hear that Knightley has her reservations about joining the different social media platforms. As a famous actress, her life as under constant scrutiny and she does not need to diverge additional information about herself via social media postings. 

This does not need that the curiosity bug hasn鈥檛 bitten hers because she did try to open an Instagram account. This experience lasted for about five minutes because no sooner had she registered, no sooner had she attracted a ton of followers, and this freaked her out. As a result, she logged out, never to login again.

10. She has a unique hidden talent

Keira Knightley at the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest London premiere – Wikimedia Commons

Knightley has mastered the art of playing her teeth like a musical instrument. She has been able to display her unique talent in various interviews where she has played, 鈥淩aindrops Keep Falling on My Head鈥� and other popular song.