Keira Christina Knightley is an English actress who was born on March 26, 1985. She has received several honors for her work in both independent and blockbuster films, particularly period dramas, including nominations for two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. She was awarded an OBE at Buckingham Palace in 2018 for her services to drama and charity. In John Maybury’s 2008 wartime drama The Edge of Love, Knightley costarred with Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy, and Matthew Rhys. She portrayed Vera Phillips in the movie, a close friend of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his wife Caitlin Macnamara from their early years. With Macnamara in mind, Knightley wrote the script with Sharman Macdonald, her mother. After Knightley agreed to star, the movie’s emphasis on her romance with a British soldier increased the role of her character.
Vera’s quietness spoke to Knightley, who described her as “tragic and beautiful.” She based her performance on Marlene Dietrich and was supposed to mime to a prerecorded voice before being told by Maybury to sing live. Knightley initially felt embarrassed, saying she “[shook] like a leaf,” but eventually carried out the plan. When it was released, the film was a moderate critical and commercial success. The Independent noted that Knightley “gives Vera an independence and complexity that’s aeons ahead,” while the Los Angeles Times stated that “the film belongs to the women, with Knightley going from strength to strength (and showing she can sing!)”. The Duchess (2008), based on Amanda Foreman’s best-selling biographical novel Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, cast Knightley as the 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. Georgiana’s rise in society as a sociopolitical tastemaker after her marriage falls apart is depicted in the film. Knightley received a script adorned with “huge white ostrich feathers” and a gold ribbon. The film’s producer, Gabrielle Tana, stated that Knightley “brought an instinctive understanding” of such aspects of Georgiana’s life as a celebrity from her own experiences.
Where did Keira Knightley go to high school?
Knightley was educated at Teddington School.
