Keira Knightley hails from a family of creatives. Born in the London suburb of Teddington, the Oscar-nominated actress was raised by Sharman MacDonald and Will Knightley – two savants of the sage.
An esteemed playwright, Keira has described her mother as a "chilled-out hippy" and hard worker, while her thespian father encouraged her to perceive acting as a form of activism, capable of being an "incredibly powerful political thing."
Here, we explore the A-lister's close bond with her beloved parents, and how it's shaped her into the powerhouse she is today…
Sharman MacDonald
Keira has spoken a lot about her mother in interviews. Joining Digital Spy in 2008, the Atonement star said: "Mum's a bit mental in a good way. She's this chilled-out hippy mother. My house was always the one where my brother and his mates would be drinking when they shouldn't be."
Noting that her mum would pop in for chats, Keira recalled: "She'd come up to my room, have me roll her cigarettes and then tell me I had to have one with her. It's not the typical mother-daughter thing but we're extremely close."
Sharman, a Scottish playwright and screenwriter, has penned several plays including The Beast (1986), Night Night (1988) and Soft Fall the Sounds of Eden (2004). She also wrote the screenplay for The Edge of Love (2008), which Keira starred in.
© GettyThe actress, who obtained an agent when she was just six, has a strong work ethic, something which she learned from Sharman. "I think ultimately she has always gone, 'Get better, work harder, keep going,'" Keira explained.
Driven by that mantra, the 39-year-old has accrued critical acclaim and prestigious nominations with her various roles, and in 2018 she received an OBE for services to drama and charity. Beaming with pride, Sharman and Will joined their daughter at Buckingham Palace, where they posed alongside Keira and her husband, James Righton.
Will Knightley
Will is a stage actor who founded London's Half Moon Theatre. Like his daughter, he has also performed on-screen, making brief appearances in The Bill, A Touch of Frost, and Midsomer Murders.
While Keira watched her father navigate the highs and lows of the acting industry, it never put her off, "Because it's an addiction," she told The Guardian.
© Getty"It absolutely is. There are a lot of people in this industry out of work, but they keep going because that moment, that part, could be just around the corner. And even when you are doing well you are always looking for your next hit."
During an interview with ELLE in 2006, Keira was asked if her mum and dad had given her acting advice in the past. "They're fantastically supportive but also highly critical," she said.
© Getty"I prefer that to somebody completely [expletive] me. They'll say if they think something is [expletive]. Actually, they won't—they'll just go very silent and go, 'Oh, that was nice.' Nice is the worst word."
According to Keira, at the start of her career, her father's biggest worry was that she couldn't live her life in a more grounded way and without scrutiny. She revealed: "My dad wrote this brilliant thing in my twenty-first-birthday card: I'm not going to say, 'I hope you get all you wish for.' I'm going to say, 'I hope that you can handle all that you've got.'"
