Keira Knightley was born on March 22, 1985. She grew up in Teddington, Middlesex. Her parents, Will Knightley and Sharman MacDonald have both been involved in acting for years.
Her mother was born in Ayrshire, and was a secretary. Her father was an engineer. At the University her mother went to in Edinburgh, Max Stafford-Clark was revolutionising theatre with his Joint Stock methods. In 1972, she joined the drama society, and at night, to pay the fees, she preformed as a go-go dancer. She unfortunatley gave in to stage fright and gave up stage acting. She married her husband, Will Knightley, and they had two children: Caleb, 1979, and Keira, 1985.
Sharman, still in love with the business, wrote her first play in 1984 entitled "When I was a girl I used to kick and scream". She has also written many plays and novels. The most successful being "The Winter Guest".
Keira was introduced to acting at an early age by her parents, although they were hesitant to let her into the industry. But she eventually made a deal with her parents. She would be allowed to act on holidays off from school, but only if she kept her grades up. She landed herself an agent at the age of six, and got her first part when she was seven from a friend of her parents'. Keira played Natash Jordan when she was nine in "A Village Affair". She played Celia Graves in the movie "Innocent Lies" only a year later.
The part of Sabé (Queen Amidala's favourite handmaiden, decoy, and best friend) in "Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace" was the role that made her popular to some degree. She was only 14 when LucasFilm found her. She was two years younger thna Natalie Portman, but there was a striking resemblance between the two, so they gave her the part of Sabé, the handmaiden and fill-in for Queen Amidala while she was in hiding. And she fooled everyone. Many people still have no idea that there were two actresses playing Amidala.
Keira became an international star in 2003 at the age of 19 with the releases "Bend It Like Beckham", and "Pirates of the Caribbean".
Even with all of her success, Keira hasnt let it go to her head. Though jod offers and scripts continue to pour in, she knows it could all be over tomorrow. Keira is having fun acting, but she is also prepared for the worst. She says Ill do something else. I think this is a business that's so kind of here today and gone tomorow. You never know what tomorrow is going to hold."
NOTE: Part of this information was gathered from Here
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