Keira goes for the gold!

Lesson Number One when making a critically acclaimed movie: Always listen to the director.
When Britain's hottest young star Keira Knightley was offered the role of Cecilia in the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's 2002 best selling novel Atonement, she balked. Her heart was set on portraying the "middle" Briony, the melodrama's misguided villain.The saga begins in 1935 when a college-educated, housekeeper's son named Robbie (James McAvoy) falls in love with the upper class Cecilia. Her younger sister, Briony (Saoirse Ronan), an aspiring writer with a vivid imagination and schoolgirl crush on Robbie falsely accuses him of sexual assault. The accusation will irrevocably destroy two lives and crumble a third.It took three lunches to convince Knightley that director Joe Wright's instincts were correct. She must play the betrayed older sibling. A recent Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama, and a Best Picture bid should permanently retire any lingering doubts.Call it a case of deja vu. Wright was also responsible for casting Knightley as Jane Austen's heroine Elizabeth Bennet in 2005's Pride & Prejudice.Perched on a chair at the Regency Hotel, the 22-year-old native of Teddington, Middlesex, England bore little resemblance to her on-screen persona. Her hair hung dark and disheveled over her shoulders, she was dressed entirely in black that further emphasized her svelte figure and exquisite bone structure.It's quickly apparent that Knightley respects Wright's judgment. "We've always had an incredible creative relationship. I think the history between actor and director is as important as the onscreen chemistry between actors. We got to the point where he didn't have to say anything. I just knew what he wanted, which is an amazing place to be. But he wants collaboration with everybody and he wants discussion which I find very exciting," she said.Striving to capture the rhythm and styling of classic British movies, Wright conducted a three-week rehearsal period. Considerable time was spent on dialogue. "Joe directed us to deliver our dialogue lines swiftly, likening it to rain pattering down or bullets firing. That particular style of speaking is now lost. It's like doing an accent, yet it made everything easier," said Knightley, adding, "A lot of the time was spent watching mostly David Lee and Noel Coward collaborations like In Which We Serve and Brief Encounter which was completely fantastic."Another key component was fashion. "I'm sure that if you were rich in the '30s it was a very glamorous period. I loved working again with Jacqueline Durran [from Pride & Prejudice]. She makes you realize how important clothes are to the character being played. The clothes you see Cecilia in at the beginning of the film say a lot about who she is, about this glamour puss, this woman who has been raised to be a trophy bride and also what she's kind of rebelling against, being disgusted by. She's sort of like a pressure cooker ready to explode," Knightley explained.In daily life, clothing isn't a priority. She laughingly confided, "My red carpet look is created entirely by people other than myself and my street look can best be described as scruffy."As the daughter of actor Will Knightley and screenwriter Sharman MacDonald, acting is embedded in her DNA. In fact, the couple wholeheartedly supported her decision to quit school at 16 to pursue acting full time. She was already a decade long show biz veteran.At six, she appeared in the BBC television drama Royal Celebration and made her first big-screen debut as Sabe in George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace eight years later. Yet it was Knightley's portrayal as a soccer-mad tomboy in Gurinder Chadha's sleeper hit Bend It Like Beckham that clinched her claim to stardom.Another heroine, Elizabeth Swann, from Gore Verbinski's blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, generated a worldwide following and gave rise to the often asked question "Who is the better kisser – Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom?"Blushing slightly, Knightley confessed, "Stupidly I thought I was being clever and said James McAvoy. After doing Atonement, now the media has been asking me if James McAvoy really is a better kisser than Johnny Depp. Trust me. They are all good kissers and they have nothing to worry about."In real life, Knightley saves her kisses for boyfriend Rupert Friend, who played Mr. Wickham in Pride & Prejudice. Expect to see a lot more of Knightley in the coming year, since she recently wrapped The Edge of Love. Based on her mother's screenplay, Keira and Sienna Miller play two feisty, free spirited women connected by a charismatic poet (Cillian Murphy), who loves them both.Returning to period costuming, Knightley portrays Georgiana Spencer, an 18th century celebrity star, who became the Duchess of Devonshire at 17. Simply titled The Duchess, this love triangle bears some semblance to the recent English history since Georgiana finds herself wrestling with the idea of another women, Lady Elizabeth Foster (Hayley Atwell), bedding the Duke (Ralph Fiennes).

Feeling the Oscars!

I'm so dissappointed. Keira didn't get a nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards 2008. Nor did James for Best Actor and Joe for Best Director. I mean what were they thinking? Frustrated here...
However, Atonement did get the following nominations:

Best Picture :)
Best Supporting Actress: Saoirse Ronan
Best Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Hampton
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Original Score: Dario Marianelli
Best Costume

To see the complete list of nominees, click here: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080122/OSCARS/263979437

Keira and Atonement nominated for BAFTA Awards

Atonement is leading with 14 nominations for the BAFTA Awards. Keira is competing angaist Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Julie Christie (Away From Her), Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) and Ellen Page (Juno) for Best Leading Actress. Atonement is also nominated in the following categories:

Best Film
Best British Film
Best Director (Joe Wright)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Christopher Hampton)
Best Leading Actor (James McAvoy)
Best Supporting Actress (Saoirse Ronan)
Best Cinematography (Seamus McGarvey)
Best Editing (Paul Tothill)
Best Production Design (Sarah Greenwood/Katie Spencer)
Best Costume Design (Jacqueline Durran)
Best Sound (Danny Hambrook/Paul Hamblin/Catherine Hodgson)
Best Make up and Hair (Danny Hambrook/Paul Hamblin/Catherine Hodgson)
Best Music (Dario Marianelli)

For the complete list of nominees enter here: http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/film-awards-nominees-in-2008,224,BA.html

Keira and James for W Magazine!

I'm so sorry, but I really hate the picture on the cover. They could have selected a more flattering one, I'm sorry Keira, I really am, but you look scary! The ones with James are nice. There are some highlights of the interview, I'll upload the whole thing later:

On taking time off: “It got to the point where you just get tired, and then you start to forget what you love about what you do. I wanted to be able to say to my friends, ‘Yes, I will be there for your birthday.’ I was having that discombobulated feeling of being homesick but not knowing what I was homesick for.”

On being a professional: "From a very young age I realized that you didn’t get parts if you acted like a child. So even at seven I remember picking a way to behave, a way that worked. Though in my personal life I don’t think I’m particularly mature. I don’t particularly want to be mature!”

On public rumors about her weight: “It’s like having piles of s--- put on your head. As a teenager you put enough on yourself. You’re a spotty emotional wreck whose body is changing, and you’re just not equipped to deal with that sort of thing.”

On awards season: “If the film gets awards or anything, great, but if it doesn’t, it certainly doesn’t devalue the project."

On being nominated for Pride and Prejudice: “It was great fun, and it was partly great fun because I was absolutely certain that I wasn’t going to win, so it was just sort of going along for a jolly.”

We knew most of those things, though :P Why do they always ask the same questions!?

Entretainment Weekly Behind The Scenes

OMG! These are the cutest pictures ever :)

Those two are adorable.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keira didn't win the Golden Globe for Best Actress, but Atonement won for Best Motion Picture!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats! I'm so happy! Even though the film didn't win in any of the other categories, it rocked it in the end :)

Golden Globes cancelled!

Yep, as you all may have heard, the Golden Globe Awards ceremony has been cancelled, nevertheless Ryan Secreats will be announcing the winners on E! tonight, so don't miss it! We're crossing our fingers here for Keira and Atonement!