When one thinks of the most beautiful young actresses of
modern cinema in their 20’s, one thinks of Natalie Portman,
Scarlet Johansen, and without a doubt, the stunning Keira
Knightly. Launching in to the film conscious of world cinema, she
first came to us in ‘Innocent Lies,’ and next, in
‘Star Wars, The Phantom Menace.’ ‘Bend it Like
Bekham,’ and ‘Pure’ followed, as did her
starring role in ‘Pirates of the Carribbean, The Curse of
the Black Pearl.’ A further string of hits followed, with
‘Love Actually,’ ‘ King Arthur,’ and
‘Pride and Prejudice.’ While ‘The Jacket’
and ‘Domino’ were smaller, she more than made up for
these, conquering the world again not once, but twice, with
‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,’
and ‘Pirates of the Carribean: At Word’s End.’
Though not really a fan of big special effect filled
blockbusters, she came back to her period piece, art house
sensibilities, which proved to any one that doubted, she is a
first rate actress, with an outstanding performance in the
wonderful film adaptation of ‘Atonement.’
‘Silk’ followed, as later did ‘The Edge of
Love’ and ‘The Duchess.’
As countless girls flock to Hollywood, and obsess about their
weight, Keira expresses her terrible worries about the matter.
She tells us, ‘I don`t think about nutrition. The very
thought of a diet makes me want chips and ice cream. And I just
hate going to the gym. I cannot stand it… The most
exercise I do is turning on the television…I`m naturally
an extremely lazy person, so if someone did everything for me, I
really think I would do nothing at all…’
Yet while she worries about her appearance, which she confesses
is all good genes, she doesn’t mind it so much that she
won’t flaunt it. She goes on, ‘I don`t have a problem
with my body. I`m not just going to strip off all my clothing,
but if the part calls for it and I don`t think there`s any way
round, I`m absolutely fine.’ Yet, her humility is as big as
ever, as she discusses fame and her own perception within it all.
She tells us more, ‘In this business, fame lasts for a
second. You can be blown up and be blown down. People keep losing
interest in faces because new ones come along every single
second. I`m one at the moment. Tomorrow I won`t be. That`s
cool…’
With films coming out back to back over the next few years
including “Last Night,’ ‘London
Boulevard,’ ‘My Fair Lady,’ ‘King
Lear,’ ‘The Beautiful and the Damned,’ and the
highly anticipated science fiction thriller ‘Never Let Me
Go’ in which she is cloned, Keira doubles the pleasure
audiences will have seeing her on screen. The mastery of her
craft, and her actable choices get only better with time. And the
way we see it, we can safely say, Keira, you’re totally
wrong. You’ll be around for a long, long time.