Keira's Quest

(3 of 3)

What she does have is an obvious screen presence and an ambition beyond fame. "Nobody ever believes me when I say it, but that was never one of the reasons I wanted to act," says Knightley. "That's not what my mom and dad are, and my knowledge of the business wasn't anything to do with that." She recognizes that movie star is "a pretty good job," and she may yet sign on to that Pirates sequel. But asked if she's holding out because she would rather do something deeply obscure and conspicuously artistic, like, say, repertory theater in the British Midlands, she says, quite seriously, "You know, I might like that, actually. Could be quite fun."