| SUMMARY
2008 cemented Keira Knightley as one of
the great emerging talents of this century. With plaudits that started
with Pride & Prejudice, her role in Atonement was to secure much more
attention, reflected in the fluorish of nominations during awards season.
At the same time, the year saw less of Keira publicly than any year since
the start of her rise to fame. With appearances only at premieres and promotional
interviews, and only one film shoot late in the year, she appears to have
succeeded in retrieving at least some of the privacy she has so publicly
lost in the five years of her meteoric shoot to stardom. Both The Duchess
and The Edge Of Love received much critical acclaim for Keira in two very
different performances. Professionally, 2009 will bring the filming of
her first major Shakespearian role, plus a biopic and possibly her first
musical. Her continual varied choice of genres and roles will ensure ever-increasing
attention from new fans and critics alike.
JANUARY
- The year started well for Keira with
her first ever BAFTA nomination: Best Actress for Atonement.
- Julie Christie beat Keira to the Best
Actress award at a toned down Golden
Globes, although Atonement did win Best Film: Drama.
- Keira won
Favorite Female Action star for Pirates At Worlds End at the
People's Choice Awards.
- Atonement honours continued to pour
in in the second half of the month, with seven Academy Award nominations,
and a Best Actress nomination for Keira from the Evening Standard Film
Awards, plus six other nominations for film and cast. At the inaugural
Richard Attenborough Awards, Atonement won four of its six nominations.
FEBRUARY
- Keira receives her seventh consecutive
nomination
at the Empire Film Awards, again for Best Actress for Atonement.
- She returns to the pages of Vanity
Fair in a Hitchcock-themed photoshoot. She appears with her Jacket
co-star Jennifer Jason-Leigh in a scene from Rebecca.
- Atonement wins Best
Film at the BAFTAs in London, although Marion Cotillard's Edith Piaf
beats Keira's Cecilia Tallis to the Best Actress award.
- Just two days later, Keira attends the
Elle Style Awards where she does win Best Actress!
- At the Academy Awards, Atonement wins
Best Score for Dario Marionelli. Keira did not attend, although the film
was represented by Saoirse Ronan and James McAvoy.
MARCH
- One of several green dresses worn by
Keira in the dinner party scene of Atonement goes for $46,000 at an eBay
charity
auction.
- The first images and stories appear
confirming that Keira will sing her own songs in the forthcoming Edge Of
Love. Speculation that she will follow Scarlett Johansson into releasing
an album soon follow.
- At the eighth attempt Keira
triumphs at the Empire Film Awards, scooping Best Actress for Atonement.
She did not attend but sent a pre-recorded thank-you message.
- Silk won four Jutra awards, celebrating
French-Canadian cinema, while Keira wins a Rembrandt Best Actress award
for Pirates At Worlds End, voted for by Dutch moviegoers.
- Pirates At Worlds End receives numerous
nominations at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, including Best Actress
for Keira.
APRIL
- The UK press gets into gear for The Edge
Of Love, with photos and interviews starting to appear. On the 9th it was
announced
the movie will open the Edinburgh Film Festival on June 18th, surprising
many who expected it to launch at Venice or Cannes. Meanwhile, director
John Maybury denies rumours Keira has been cast in a future project of
his, Wuthering Heights.
- It's silly season for polls and surveys,
with Keira charting in many of them: Tatler's Best Dressed List; Who Students
Want To Be (Keira was fourth); Look Magazine Top Fashion Role Model (8th);
Glamour Magazine Britain's Best Dressed Woman (9th); Independent Critics
100 Most Beautiful Faces (7th); xRank Favorite New Idol (1st); FHM Sexiest
Women (10th).
MAY
- Keira reportedly moves house, explaining
her disappearance from the paparazzi's gaze over the last six weeks. Meanwhile,
interviews
with Keira and other Edge Of Love cast and crew start to appear, plus many
related Dylan Thomas articles and South Wales travel features.
- MTV provide Keira with her fourth nomination
in their annual Movie Awards, with a Best Actres nod for Pirates At Worlds
End.
- On the 19th, it was announced
that Keira will play Cordelia in a rare big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare's
King Lear. Sir Anthony Hopkins is already confirmed as her father the king,
with Gwyneth Paltrow announced as her sister Goneril. Casting of the third
sister Regan is subsequently announced as being won by Naomi Watts. Joshua
Michael Stern will direct the $35m epic.
JUNE
- The official web site for The Duchess
goes online complete with trailer. The tagline "There were three people
in her marriage" start obvious comparisons with Princess Diana's very words
in a 1995 interview. Georgiana was a distant relative of Diana, and the
marketing people obviously thought it a good idea to draw parallels, particularly
with her being a trend-setter and hounded by the media.
- Despite two years of on-off rumours,
Variety reports
on the 6th that Keira is indeed in negotiations to play Eliza Dolittle
in a more faithful adaptation of My Fair Lady than the 1964 classic, drawing
more on the original George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion. Sir Cameron Mackintosh
and Duncan Kenworthy are to co-produce, with Emma Thompson reportedly honing
the script.
- Keira rises to No.37 on Forbes Power
List, from last year's 71.
- Keira and Sienna attend
the world premiere of The Edge Of Love at the Edinburgh Film Festival,
with its author (and Keira's mother) Sharman Macdonald and director John
Maybury in attendance. A low-key London premiere takes place in Mayfair
the next day.
- In a TV interview with Richard &
Judy, Keira denies she has signed on for My Fair Lady and Keira's agent
tells KeiraWeb that the project is "still in its very early stages".
- Despite showing at a select number of
cinemas across London only, The Edge Of Love enters the UK box office chart
at No.9, taking £181,000.
JULY
- Plenty of press and positive reviews
for Keira's role in The Duchess appear throughout July, including the story
that Keira has refused digital enhancement of her bosom for the promotional
artwork! Vogue, Tatler and Glamour will feature Keira spreads in the run-up
to the UK premiere of The Duchess on September 3rd.
- More poll fodder emerges: Sanex Ultimate
Natural Beauty (Keira is 2nd); AntiBloat Sexiest Tums (2nd); BlistEx Best
Pout (1st!).
- Keira and Rupert take a break
in Indonesia.
AUGUST
- Another Best Actress win for Keira's
Cecilia comes in the form of a surfboard from the Teen Choice Awards. She's
never attended the TCAs despite winning seven of ten nominations in the
last four years.
- KeiraWeb's up-to-date biography
of Keira is published at the mighty IMDb.
- With Keira the title role in The Duchess,
the end of the month sees an almost endless round of TV and print interviews.
SEPTEMBER
- Keira attends
the UK premiere of The Duchess in London on the 3rd, then flies to Toronto
for a Film Festival premiere and press conference. She then heads to the
US where talk show appearances on Regis & Kelly, Conan O'Brien, AMC
Shootout and David Letterman lead up to the US premiere in New York on
the 10th.
- The Duchess tops the UK box office in
its debut week, taking £2.29m - £600,000 more than did Atonement
in the same week and on the same number of screens. In its US debut on
just seven screens it tallies over $200,000, nearly $30,000 per screen.
- Two new-movie rumours emerge mid-month:
Keira and Orlando Bloom to star in a remake of Saturday Night Fever, and
Keira to star in a tale of adultery called Last Night. Mercifully, the
latter becomes confirmed
on the 18th.
- The Hollywood Reporter announce
that Keira is in talks to play Zelda Sayre, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald
in a biopic of their tumultous life together. There is no subsequent confirmation
of this story until KeiraWeb notices the artwork on the production company's
web site in November, apparently confirming the role.
- On the 25th Disney announce work on
a fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean. Keira had already announced
she would not be involved.
OCTOBER
- The Duchess continues to perform strongly
at the UK and US box offices, with Australia continuing the trend. It will
be shown at the Rome Film Festival, although Keira will not attend.
- Mid-month, Keira begins shooting
exterior scenes for Last Night on the streets of New York City. Despite
a closed set, many pap snaps emerge over the following weeks.
- Keira receives her first Best Actress
nomination
from the British Independent Film Awards on the 28th, and the first for
her role in The Duchess. She won the Variety-sponsored Personality of the
Year Award at the 2005 BIFAs.
NOVEMBER
- The People's Choice Awards nominations
provide Keira with her second Best Actress nod for The Duchess. The film
is also up for Favorite Indie Movie.
- Keira and Sienna Miller attend the BIFAs,
spending much of the time in front of the cameras holding hands. It's all
she does hold, however, as she loses out to Vera Farmiga for the Best Actress
award.
- Last Night goes into post-production.
DECEMBER
- Keira tops the UK entries on Forbes'
Young Rich List, with an apparent £22m fortune, figures Keira always
laughs off.
- She is No.8 on the IMDb's StarMeter
poll of Under-25s' most-visited filmogrpahies during the year.
- Resurgent rumours circulate regarding
Emma Watson replacing Keira as the face of Chanel's fragrance Coco Mademoiselle.
KeiraWeb enquiries to Chanel settle the matter - it's nonsense.
- A placard-waving image
of Keira appears on the 10th, the sixtieth anniversary of the UN's Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Keira is among many celebrities to have contributed
video or narratives to 22 films by amateur filmmakers calling on the true
meaning of 'human rights' to be acknowledged. She said: "I wanted to be
part of this film for Amnesty to help raise awareness of the UDHR and to
help them, in a small way, to campaign against the abuses of human rights
that are still happening every day. It seems that 'human rights' has become
a bit of a loaded term in this country, but if you look at the declaration
that countries made 60 years ago, it just sets out a series of basic rules
about how people should treat each other. The UDHR is something that every
one should be aware of and be proud of as a statement of our common humanity."
- Despite rave reviews for her role as
Georgiana, the end of the year does not replicate the nomination-laden
start to 2008 for Keira. In a strong year for great female performances
(Melissa Leo, Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie),
Keira does not make the shortlist at The Golden Globes, Critics Choice
Awards, SAGs or London Critics' Circle Awards.
- The Duchess bows out of US cinemas with
an impressive $13.8m.
|
BAFTAs, London
Elle Style Awards, London
With Best Actress award
The Edge Of Love world premiere, Edinburgh
With co-star Sienna Miller
The Edge Of Love promotional still
As Vera Phillips
The Duchess UK premiere, London
The Duchess press conference, Toronto
The Duchess US gala screening, New York
The Duchess promotional still
As Georgiana Spencer
Last Night on-set paparazzi snap, New York
As Joanna Reed, with Lucy
the dog
© Paul Fisher 2008
Unauthorised reproduction
prohibited.
Pictures courtesy Sweet-Keira.net
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