Keira Knightley - Actress and Human Rights Supporter

Keira Christina Knightley (born 26 March 1985) is a Golden Globe-, BAFTA-, and Academy Award-nominated

English film and television actress and former fashion model. She began her career as a child and came to international prominence in 2003 after co-starring in the films Bend It Like Beckham and Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

Knightley has appeared in several Hollywood films and earned an Academy Award nomination for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. She received critical praise for her newest role as Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, in The Duchess.

As of 2008, Forbes claims Knightley to be the second highest paid actress in Hollywood (behind Cameron Diaz), having reportedly earned $32 million in 2007, making her the only non-American person on the list of highest paid actors or actresses. Knightley, however has denied such a figure.

Knightley was born in Teddington, Greater London, England, the daughter of Sharman Macdonald, an award-winning playwright, and Will Knightley, a theatre and television actor. Her father is English and her mother is Scottish and of half Welsh ancestry. She has an elder brother, Caleb, who was born in 1979. Knightley lived most of her life in Richmond, attending Teddington School and Esher College. Knightley has dyslexia, but nevertheless was successful in school and was thus permitted to acquire a talent agent and pursue an acting career. She requested an agent as early as the age of three but got one when she turned six, from her mother as a reward for studying hard. Knightley has noted that she was “single-minded about acting” during her childhood. She performed in a number of local amateur productions including After Juliet (written by her mother) and United States (written by her then drama teacher, Ian McShane, no relation to the Deadwood actor).

Knightley successfully auditioned for the role of Eliza Doolittle, in the Columbia Pictures planned remake of the stage musical My Fair Lady to be produced by Cameron Mackintosh although no release date has yet been scheduled.In the summer of 2009, Knightley will be co-starring with Colin Farrell in London Boulevard, the script of which is written by William Monahan, who will also make his directing debut.

Knightley, who lives in London, is involved with her Pride and Prejudice co-star Rupert Friend. Knightley has stated she has no plans to be married in the near future. She previously dated Northern Irish fashion model Jamie Dornan,as well as actor Del Synnott, who, according to some reports, attempted suicide after their relationship ended, although Synnott and Knightley deny these claims.

She has denied rumors she is anorexic (she also claimed recently in Vanity Fair magazine her slim physique was due to the Rhubarb diet), although she did say—after her appearance at the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest premiere led to media speculation that her extremely slender figure was due to an eating disorder—that her family has a history of anorexia. Keira sued the Daily Mail after they claimed she lied about having anorexia; the article said that a teenage girl died from anorexia, indicating that Knightley’s physical appearance may have influenced her in some way. She was awarded a settlement for it. In July 2006, Knightley said she has become a workaholic, detailing that “the last five years have blended into one. I can’t tell you what was last year and what was the year before” and specifying that she was “working too much” and was “quite frightened that if I continue at this rate I will start to hate what I love,” even suggesting that she would take a one-year break from acting to travel and focus on her personal life.

Knightley is the face of an Amnesty International campaign to support human rights, marking the 60th anniversary of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As part of the campaign, the star also made a short film. Knightley stated she wanted help raise awareness of the UDHR and human rights abuses. She said “The Udhr is something that everyone should be aware of and be proud of as a statement of our common humanity.”

Knightley contributed her voice to a 2007 Robbie the Reindeer animation, all profits of which will be donated to Comic Relief. In 2004, she travelled to Ethopia with a group that included Richard Curtis, who had directed her in Love, Actually, on behalf of that charity.

Source [ Wikipedia ]