Kiera Knightley is an actress who is known around the world for her roles in a wide variety of blockbuster movies. She was born on March 26th, 1985 in Teddington, England. Knightley got her start on the small screen by appearing in several television movies during the mid to late nineties. However, she got her big break in 1999 when she was cast to appear in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. After the exposure she received from appearing in this movie, she had her first starring role in a television movie in 2001.

Not long after, Knightley appeared in the role that really started to launch her career. The movie was Bend It Like Beckham, which was very successful when it was released in the United Kingdom in August of 2002, as well as in the United States in March of 2003. After this, she was cast in the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Thanks to the fact that this became one of the most popular summer movies of 2003, Knightley’s profile as an actress grew immensely.

Since the release of the first installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, in addition to appearing in a wide variety of other popular movies (like Love Actually and Pride & Prejudice), she has continued to appear in the Pirate of the Caribbean series.

Thanks to her non-stop work ethic and the success that the majority of her films have had, Forbes named Knightley as the second highest paid actress in Hollywood in 2008, estimating that she had earned thirty-two million dollars during the course of 2007.