Keira Knightley's
2009 - KeiraWeb's Review of the Year
SUMMARY
Keira's 2009 started with three films in
the pipeline, and yet none of them came to fruition. King Lear was cancelled,
The Beautiful & The Damned was delayed and My Fair Lady was confirmed
then not confirmed more times than we care to remember. In addition, she
recorded a charity TV commercial which was never seen by its intended audience.
However, two highly-anticipated movies were recorded throughout the year
- London Boulevard and Never Let Me Go, the discovery a new short film
shot in 2008, and a brand new change in direction for Keira's career, and
her fans - theatre.
JANUARY
- The Duchess makes nine of the longlists
for the BAFTAs, including Best Actress for Keira.
- The 22nd sees the announcement that
Keira will star with Colin Farrell in an adaptation of Ken Bruen's novel
London Boulevard, about a reclusive actress and an ex-con who becomes her
housekeeper and guardian.
- As one of its celebrity faces, Keira
attended Chanel's Haute Couture fashion show in Paris on the 27th.
FEBRUARY
- Keira continues her relationship with
Comic Relief by donning red noses and Eric Morecambe-style spectacles for
a photoshoot to promote the charity's new range of T-Shirts, designed by
Stella McCartney and sold through T K Maxx. The campaign goes on to make
more than £2m for the charity.
- Michael O'Connor wins the Best Costume
Design BAFTA for The Duchess on the 8th, and pays tribute to Keira. Michael
tops this with an Academy Award on the 23rd, calling Keira "one classy
lady".
- Keira attends the Berlin Film Festival
with boyfriend Rupert Friend, where he is promoting his movie Cheri.
- Via her agent, KeiraWeb announces that
King Lear has been cancelled.
MARCH
- On the 2nd, Keira is announced among
the cast to star in another novel adaptation, the award-winning Never Let
Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. She will reunite with her Pride & Prejudice
co-star (and personal friend) Carey Mulligan.
- Keira attends the after-premiere party
for Rupert's new film The Young Victoria in London on the 3rd.
- Litle-known magazine Lula makes big
news in Keira fandom with its publication of a number of photographs from
a short film called The Continuing and Lamentable Saga of The Suicide Brothers.
It is written by and stars Rupert Friend and Tom Mison, with Keira playing
a fairy. Costume design is by Michael O'Connor. It was filmed in early
2008 in London.
- Promotions of The Edge Of Love appear
in the US, although it is only set for a release there on a very few screens.
APRIL
- The charity Womens Aid announce a new
awareness campaign for domestic violence against women, featuring a 5-minute
commercial called Cut, starring Keira and directed by Joe Wright. The film
is intended to be seen on post-watershed TV in the UK and before 15-rated
movies in cinemas, but the UK censors refuse to show it unless scenes of
brutality are edited out. The charity rightly refuses, and the commercial
remains unseen except online, and its message therefore unheard.
- Keira begins filming Never Let Me Go
in the second week of April, in London and Norfolk. Carey Mulligan is revealed
to be the star turn as Kathy, with Keira as her friend Ruth. Filming moves
on to Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon in Somerset at the end of the month,
with TV crews in attendance to catch the filming.
MAY
- Never Let Me Go completes filming.
- Keira is among the contributors to a
charity auction of celebrity items by Bonhams, to be held in Los Angeles
on the 28th.
- Keira's mother Sharman Macdonald wins
Film-maker of the Year for The Edge Of Love at the Glamour magazine awards.
JUNE
- A tantalising behind-the-scenes video
of The Suicide Brothers appears online on the 8th.
- London Boulevard starts principal photography
on the 9th in London. Anna Friel and her husband David Thewliss are in
the cast, as is Keira's King Arthur co-star Ray Winstone.
- Mid-month, new Chanel magazine ads for
Coco Mademoiselle appear in Japan and elsewhere, featuring Keira in an
open blouse and braces.
JULY
- Keira continues to feature in polls and
surveys, including No.36 of FHM's Sexiest Women poll, No.4 on Movie Fanatic's
Top 50 Hottest Young Actresses, No.24 on Premiere magazine's Most Beautiful
Hollywood Women and No.5 on SportingFix.com's poll to find the Top 10 Celebrity
Fantasy Cheerleaders!
- Pirates of the Caribbean 4 is greenlit,
although Keira, Orlando and Gore Verbinski have all ruled themsleves out
of continuing high seas adventures.
- The Suicide Brothers has been accepted
for the London Film Festival where it will screen throughout the October
event.
AUGUST
- KeiraWeb receives good news from The
Film Department that its project The Beautiful & The Damned is still
active and should start filming towards the end of the year. Keira is still
attached to star as Zelda Sayre, wife of US novelist F Scott Fitzgerald.
- London Boulevard completes filming on
the 16th. Its London setting ensures many paparazzi photographs of the
cast in action are seen in the press, ironic given the film's storyline.
One scene features Keira's character being hounded by the paps, behind
which could be seen a number of real paps taking photographs of it!
- An article by My Fair Lady producer
Sir Cameron Mackintosh on the 26th excites Keira fans in its revelation
that the shortlist for the role of Eliza Doolittle features one British
and one American actress. Subsequent reports appear to name them as Keira
and Scarlett Johansson.
SEPTEMBER
- The Daily Mail keeps the My Fair Lady
rumours going with 'insider' news that Sony film-makers regarded Keira's
audition as by far the best for Eliza, but that filming would not start
until late 2010.
- New images from Last Night appear, ahead
of a supposed March release.
OCTOBER
- A new direction for Keira is revealed
on the 9th when it is announced that Keira will appear in a theatre production
in London's West End. She will co-star alongside Damian Lewis in the title
role of The Misanthrope, a retelling of Moliere's comedy of manners from
1666. Keira will play a flirtatious American film star, Jennifer, who seduces
the leading man, Alceste. Within four days of the announcement, the production
takes £1m ($1.6m) in ticket sales, despite no official promotion
whatsoever.
- Danny Boyle becomes the latest in an
increasing line of directors who either deny involvement or turn down the
chance to direct My Fair Lady.
- The Suicide Brothers wins Best Comedy
Short at the New Hampshire Film Festival.
- Keira's name continues to be linked
with projects - none of which will probably happen - including Dusty (a
biopic of Dusty Springfield), explorer Piri Reis and a martial arts heroine
in Kung-Fu Xia.
- Keira accompanies Rupert to Tbilisi
in Georgia where he is to film a movie about the Russian conflict with
the former Soviet Republic.
NOVEMBER
- With its premiere still over a month
away, The Misanthrope gets huge press attention, helped by a set of promotional
photographs, and includes becoming one The Times' Ten Hot Tickets, and
providing a slew of Hollywood-to-stage actress articles. Towards the end
of the month interviews with director Thea Sharrock, the play's star Damian
Lewis and other cast members appear. Rehearsals begin ahead of its previews
on December 5th.
- The Suicide Brothers is accepted for
January's London Short Film Festival, as well as this month's Foyle Film
Festival in Derry.
DECEMBER
- John Madden is the latest to emerge as
director of My Fair Lady, with Keira's role STILL not confirmed.
- London's National Portrait Gallery has
Michael Thompson's portrait of Keira as its Photograph of the Month for
December.
- Previews of The Misanthrope begin on
the 5th, with largely positive reviews and surprises from audience members
who were unsure how Keira would fare. Widespread publication of pap snaps
of Keira signing autographs at the Stage Door ensure the public are reminded
of Keira's continued pulling power to any project. Professional criticism
following Press Night on the 17th saw positive reviews from the vast majority
of critics.
- On the 23rd it was reported that Keira
is to play Sabina Spielrein in a movie version of
Christopher Hampton's 2002 play about psychoanalysts Jung and Freud entitled
The Talking Cure.
- Keira is voted
No.7 in a poll to find the Beauty Icon Of The Decade.
