Keira Knightley aka the most elegant British woodland fairy ever, has had an extraordinary career and a killer red carpet style, but what else do you know about the mysterious actress with amazing jaw structure? From Bend It Like Beckham to mother of two, a lot has happened in between. Here are the top Keira Knightley facts that will blow your mind.
1. Keira Knightley’s age is only 34 years old. She seems young since she’s been starring in roles for a very long time. Her birthday is March 26, 1985.
2. Keira Knightley’s height is 5’7ft (152,4cm). Her slim, willowy silhouette makes her seem so much taller on our screens!
3. Keira Knightley’s husband is boyish cutie and musician James Righton, ex keyboard player of the Klaxons. She’s previously dated Jamie Dornan, and Pride and Prejudice co-star Rupert Friend. Her life was surprisingly free of breakup and relationship drama, due to her limited partners and very private personal life.
4. Keira Knightley and has herbed James Righton share have one daughter together. Her name is Edie and she was born in 2015. Keira is also pregnant with their second child, as she announced in May 2, 2019.
5. In 1999, Keira Knightley played Queen Amidala’s handmaiden Sabe in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. It also showed us that her and Natalie Portman are secretly twinsies.
6. Acting chops run in the family – her gorgeous mom was a Scottish screenwriter, playwright and actress. Her dad, William Knightley was an English stage and television actor.
7. Keira Knightley’s net worth is approximately $60 million dollars. In 2008, Forbes dubbed her the second most paid actress in Hollywood, the only non-American woman to be on that list.
8. Apparently, Keira was meant to be Kira! Yup, her name is a typo, as it was meant to be a tribute to Russian figure skater Kira Ivanova. However when her mother went to register her baby, she misspelled the name. Oops.
9. Bend it like Beckham was the first film to really put Keira Knightley on the mainstream map. After that, she starred in Pirates of the Caribbean which turned into massive franchise, launching Miss Knightley into international fame.
10. The actress was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, both common learning disorders, at age six. But this didn’t hold her back. Even though she admits to being a slow reader today, she overcame her dyslexia at age 11.
11. Keira Knightley’s first major role was Princess of Thieves, a Disney production from 2001. For the role of Gwynn (Robin Hood and Maid Marian’s daughter) she did weeks of training in fencing, archery, and horse riding. Method actress for the win!
12. When Keira Knightley starred in Pride and Prejudice, no one knew what a mega fan she was. A diehard fan of the book since childhood, she bought a dollhouse replica of the hero’s mansion. She got five star reviews for her performance and credits it to the fact that she connected with the character decades before.
13. Keira is known for her philanthropic work, she donates regularly to international relief funds, and medical research for sick kids. She also raises awareness on domestic abuse, starring in a 2009 video that acted as a PSA for the cause.
14. For the music film “Begin Again”, Keira Knightley learned how to play the guitar. She already knows how to play the flute and piano. The actress also used her original voice in the film, although she was nervous about singing on screen for the first time, with no professional musical background.
15. Keira loved working on Love Actually and considered it a dream come true since she got to work with her childhood idol and lifelong role model, Emma Thompson. TBH, we’d be pretty excited to if we got to work with Emma Thompson on a daily basis.
16. We know who her BFs have been, but do you know who her BFF is? Actress Sienna Miller, who she met on set in 2008 while filming The Edge of Love. The two hit it off and it’s been history ever since, with Miller calling Knightley “a bloody good laugh” in an interview with Vogue.
