SUBMITTED BY Vanya_Elda

January 16, 2003 — From Corona Productions:

We were sent a letter from a source informing us that British actress Keira Knightly (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) has been chosen to play the ingenue role of Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean. Elizabeth is the Governor's daughter who, as we're told by our scooper, "Always thought it would be exciting to meet a pirate."

"It could be a star-making role: romance, danger, swashbuckling adventure, and in the end having to choose between Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom," explains the source. "Plus the she gets to wear great period clothes, when they're not being ripped off or doused in water.

"Rumor has it that Orlando was as smitten with Keira as the rest of the production team; he agreed to appear in the film only after meeting the youthful actress in London."

Knightly played the role of Queen Amidala's handmaiden Sabi in The Phantom Menace.