Think about that wedding scene. Juliet walks down the aisle in a stunning gown, but the actress wearing it was still in school. Knightley had just finished her GCSEs when she stepped into a role that required her to play a married woman.
The age difference between her character and the other actors is even more striking today. Andrew Lincoln, who plays Mark, was 29 during filming. Chiwetel Ejiofor, playing the groom Peter, was 25. That’s a 12-year gap between Knightley and Lincoln’s real ages.
Director Richard Curtis was completely aware of this. In multiple interviews, he admitted he cast Knightley because she had a timeless elegance that made the age difference invisible on screen. She didn’t look like a teen—she looked like a young woman in love.
