What are the best Keira Knightley performances of all time?

Corsets to car chases, Austen to the Blitz — Knightley has built a career navigating period drama and modern thriller with equal elegance and conviction. Which performance is her crowning achievement?

1

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Knightley earned an Oscar nomination for her spirited, luminous Elizabeth Bennet — arguably the definitive screen incarnation of Austen's beloved heroine.

2

Atonement (2007)

Knightley is heartbreaking as Cecilia Tallis, a woman separated from the man she loves by her sister's false accusation in Joe Wright's wartime romance.

3

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Knightley plays Elizabeth Swann — resourceful, fearless, and surprisingly handy with a sword — in the swashbuckling adventure that made her a star.

4

The Imitation Game (2014)

Knightley plays Joan Clarke, the brilliant cryptanalyst and Alan Turing's closest friend, navigating a world that refuses to acknowledge her genius.

5

Love Actually (2003)

Knightley plays Juliet, the beautiful bride in one of the film's most iconic storylines, opposite Andrew Lincoln's secretly lovestruck best man.

6

Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

Knightley plays Jules, a passionate footballer who defies family expectations to pursue the beautiful game alongside her Indian-British best friend.

7

The Duchess (2008)

Knightley plays Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire — a celebrated Georgian socialite trapped in a loveless political marriage — in this lavish historical drama.

8

Never Let Me Go (2010)

Knightley plays Ruth, one of three friends raised as organ donors, navigating jealousy, love, and an unbearable fate in this devastating sci-fi drama.

9

Anna Karenina (2012)

Knightley brings fierce passion and tragic grandeur to Tolstoy's doomed aristocratic heroine in Joe Wright's boldly stylized adaptation.

10

A Dangerous Method (2011)

Knightley plays Sabina Spielrein — Freud's patient, Jung's lover, and a pioneering psychoanalyst — in Cronenberg's intellectually charged period film.

11

Begin Again (2013)

Knightley plays a singer-songwriter who finds artistic rebirth with a down-and-out music producer in this warmhearted New York musical drama.

12

Official Secrets (2019)

Knightley plays real-life GCHQ whistleblower Katharine Gun, who leaked classified information to expose the illegal surveillance of UN diplomats before the Iraq War.