'I'm a nepo baby,' Keira Knightley admits as she thanks parents for industry ‘connections’
The Hollywood star said her first agent in the industry was her mum's best friend.
Keira Knightley has proudly admitted to being a “nepo baby", crediting her parents’ “connections” for her big break in the acting world.
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The 40-year-old Hollywood star insisted she doesn’t get annoyed by the term as she shamelessly thanked her parents for kickstarting her successful career.
Speaking on Giovanna Fletcher's Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast, Keira revealed that her first acting agent was her mum’s best friend, adding that she remains her agent to this day.
She said: “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.”
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Keira 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 ?”
She replied: “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.
“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.”
Keira’s mother, Sharman MacDonald, 74, has written multiple 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.
Her father, Will Knightly, 79, founded London's Half Moon Theatre - where his daughter says her love for acting first blossomed.
Keira got into acting at a young age and secured her first role in A Village Affair in 1994, when she was only nine.
In 2002, aged 17, she got her big break when she starred in the iconic British classic Bend It Like Beckham, a comedy-drama about female footballers.