52 Keira Knightley

Being blessed with good looks is one thing, but bearing a resemblance to Natalie Portman helped Knightley get cast in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) as Queen Padmé’s royal decoy. She really got her breakthrough, however, with a supporting role in the British girl-footballer flick Bend It Like Beckham (2002). And in 2003, she nailed the part that would solidify her fame: Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. That blockbuster spawned two sequels in 2006 and 2007 respectively, granting Keira even higher exposure. And in between making the Pirates movies, this British bombshell proved she had star power when she was nominated for a best actress Oscar and Golden Globe for her work in 2005’s Pride and Prejudice.

She may have experienced a little bit of a drop since her No. 35 ranking on 2006’s list, but Keira still had a very impressive 2006. She appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest -- the top-grossing movie of 2006. She also posed nude with Scarlett Johansson on the cover of Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood Issue in March. And in April she was announced as the face of Chanel’s perfume, Coco Mademoiselle.

Keira will undoubtedly have a busy spring with the expected media blitz leading up to the May 25th release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. Also look for Keira’s two other 2007 films, Atonement and Silk, in the fall. Rumor has it that she intends to take a break from work and focus on her private life (meaning her relationship with live-in boyfriend, Rupert Friend, with whom she costarred in Pride and Prejudice), but thankfully nothing has been confirmed.

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52 Keira Knightley