Keira

ACTRESS Keira Knightly has revealed that she’s a Nepo Baby but despite family connections the star has insisted that you ‘still have to deliver’.

Keira, 40, sat down to speak on Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast and made the shock confession about her family life. 

The actress is the child of TV star Will Knightley and her playwright mother Sharman Macdonald. 

Keira has put down her Nepo Baby status to being within a family of ‘jobbing creatives’.

On the pod Keira was asked by Giovanna “if the whole Nepo Baby thing annoyed” her.

Giovanna continued: “I think it’s a really difficult subject when you’ve got parents who are working and they’re jobbing creatives. You know but you still have to deliver. You still have to have a talent.”

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Keira replied: “I don’t know about annoyed, I think I am a Nepo Baby.

“I mean my first proper agent was because she was my mum’s best mate, and she’s still my agent today. So, I mean, I think it is true that there are connections that are made, and it’s true that within creative families, you know, a lot of the actors I know, it is generational. 

“And I think partly that is because it is a lifestyle; it’s a way of life that is quite other from a 9-to-5 job.”

She was then asked: “So, do you think it’s more a case, that we have to change our view of how we perceive even the word ?”

“Well I don’t know about that. I think it’s a similar thing to quite often builders, I was doing a lot of work on my house recently, and it’s a family of builders,” Keira quipped.

“You know, building companies go through generations. Doctors tend to go through generations. You get a lot of lawyers, I think you grow up in a particular environment, and if you like the environment you grew up in you will gravitate towards that environment.

Giovanna added: “Though you don’t see a doctor whose dad’s a doctor and go, “Nepo Baby”.

“No, you don’t. I mean, but look, the entertainment industry is very loud, the noise around the entertainment industry and I think you know that going into it. 

Speaking about her two children, whom she shares with musician James Righton, she added: “If my children, neither of them are showing any interest whatsoever, but if that’s what they choose to do, then that’s what they’ll have to deal with. And I’m sure they’ll have an answer to it. 

“Ultimately, with every job, no matter what it is, you might have help through the door, which is not nothing. But unless you bring the goods, you’re going to be chucked out very quickly.”

The Hollywood star began acting as a child on television.

She made her breakthrough into films with the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham, and achieved international fame in 2003 after playing Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean film series.

Her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in the 2005 romantic drama film Pride & Prejudice earned her critical acclaim.

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She later became known for her roles as the heroines of other such period dramas as Atonement (2007), A Dangerous Method (2011) and Anna Karenina (2012).

Keira’s latest hit role sees her play journalist turned detective in the Netflix drama The Woman In Cabin 10.

The Woman in Cabin 10, the new Netflix thriller fronted by Keira Knightley, has left viewers unnerved with one ‘scary’ crime detail feeling like an all too plausible reality

Netflix fans have been keen to see the new Keira Knightley-led thriller, The Woman in Cabin 10, which landed on the streaming platform this month amid much hype. Based on Ruth Ware’s 2016 novel of the same name, it stars Knightley as hard-hitting journalist Laura ‘Lo’ Blacklock, who finds herself aboard a luxury yacht’s maiden voyage, mingling with billionaires and socialites alike.

The film begins with Lo’s return to the newsroom after a traumatic incident where she witnessed a source being murdered for agreeing to talk to her for a story. Her editor encourages her to take some time off, but Lo is adamant about getting back to work.

When an invitation to the Aurora Borealis, a luxurious new yacht, for a three-day sea trip followed by an exclusive gala event lands in her lap, she sees it as the perfect blend of work and leisure.

At first, everything seems fine; Lo is warmly welcomed by philanthropist Richard Bullmer (Guy Pearce), who has organised the trip to celebrate his wealthy wife, Anne (Lisa Loven Kongsli), who is terminally ill with cancer.

It transpires that it was Anne who insisted on Lo joining the group as she admires her work. Anne wants Lo to assist her in refining her speech for the gala, where she plans to announce her intention to donate her vast wealth to those less fortunate upon her death.

Later, Lo hears a commotion in the neighbouring cabin and steps out onto her balcony to investigate. She hears a splash and sees a woman floating in the water below.

A bloody handprint on the glass partition separating their balconies leaves her unnerved. When she seeks answers and clarity, all her fellow passengers and the crew are present and accounted for.

With no one apparently missing, her recent trauma is used to dismiss her claims as a PTSD-induced hallucination, causing growing impatience among the other guests. Despite nobody believing what she knows she saw, Lo embarks on a perilous search for the truth.

Anne begins to act out of character – she forgets a meeting she had previously arranged with Lo, and despite claiming she’s stopped taking her medication, she attributes her confusion to those pills.

In a shocking revelation, it turns out Richard used his friend’s facial recognition software to find a woman who could realistically impersonate Anne and alter her will, transferring her billions to him instead of donating them to charity.

The woman Lo saw being thrown overboard was the real Anne, with the imposter – now sporting a freshly shaven head and dressed in Anne’s clothes – assuming her identity.

This aspect of the film’s twist ending left some viewers feeling uneasy – the unsettling idea that as technology and AI advance, finding doppelgängers to serve as substitutes could become a feasible reality.

One Reddit user commented: “It was good. It’s refreshing to watch a film that doesn’t waste any time. What’s scary is it’s probably possible for someone to use facial recognition to find a doppelgänger.

“My only minor quibble with it was I would’ve expected her to read the room more quickly and keep her suspicions to herself. Because we all know there are no good billionaires.”

One viewer shared: “I rewound the movie to make sure they didn’t cheat by using imposter Anne the whole time, to trick us, and only using two separate actors when they’re depicted in the same room together.

“They didn’t cheat! That’s what was so neat, I didn’t notice the swap either. Never crossed my mind.”

Others simply shared their thoughts on the film overall.

One person commented: “People will nitpick things to death but I rather liked it. Not too long and to the point. 7/10.

“Good Saturday night movie that isn’t complete trash and gives you a decent enough murder mystery with an ending that pays out.”

Author Ruth Ware shared with Netflix’s Tudum that despite her book being published nearly ten years ago, its relevance persists because “the fear of not being believed is perennial, unfortunately”.