since today is the birthday of the Queen of period dramas, the immortal legend miss Keira Knightley, here's a thread of all her 15 period films (and a short film), in chronological order:

— some films are set over multiple years and others in just one year/month so I'm ranking them from the date of the first scene —

• set in 400AD.
King Arthur (2004) dir. Antoine Fuqua

She was 18 years old when she played Guinevere, a Celtic warrior who later married King Arthur.

• set in the 1600s :
Princess of Thieves (2001) dir. Peter Hewitt

She was just 15 when she starred in this, she played Gwyn, the daughter of Maid Marián & Robin Hood who sets out to help the son & rightful heir of King sit on the throne as well as rescue her captive father.

• set in 1720:
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003 - 2007)

At just 17 years old, Keira played Elizabeth Swann, a young lady who at first was just a damsel in distress and then becomes the powerful Pirate King.

• set in 1774:
The Duchess (2008) dir. Saul Dibb

She played the English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. at the height of the Georgian Era, a period of fashion, decadence, and political change. she was determined to be a major player in affairs of state.

• set in 1797:
Pride and Prejudice (2005) dir. Joe Wright

Her most famous role, as she played one of the most lovable protagonists in English literature, Elizabeth Bennet. her performance earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination at just 20!

• set in the 1862:
Silk (2007) dir. François Girard

She played Hélène Joncour, a teacher and keen gardener, the wife of Herve Joncour, who travels to Japan to collect his clandestine cargo.

• set in 1874:
Anna Karenina (2012) dir. Joe Wright

For her third collaboration with Joe Wright, she played the Russian aristocrat and socialite Anna Karenina, wife of senior statesman Alexei Karenin, and her affair with the officer Count Vronsky which leads to her demise.

• set in 1893:
Colette (2018) dir. Wash Westmoreland

She portrayed the bisexual French author, mime, actress, & journalist Colette and her fight over creative ownership, gender roles, societal constraints, and revolutionizing literature, fashion and sexual expression.

• set in 1900s:
Doctor Zhivago (2002) dir. Giacomo Campiotti

At age 16, she played Lara Guishar Antipova, a young woman from Moscow who had a profound effect on three men who became enamored with her, in the British TV miniserie based on the 1957 novel by Boris Pasternak.

• set in 1904:
A Dangerous Method (2011 ) dir. David Cronenberg

She portrayed Sabina Spielrein, a Russian physician and one of the first female psychoanalysts and her relationship with Carl Jung, as she was his patient, then student, then colleague, and had an affair with him.

• set in 1913:
Once upon a time (2013) dir. Karl Lagerfeld

For Chanel, she played Coco Chanel in the short film about how the famous fashion designer opened her first boutique in the French city of Deauville.

• set in 1935:
Atonement (2007) dir. Joe Wright

my personal favorite, as she played Cecilia Tallis, the playful university student who had fallen in love with her childhood friend and how her life changed when her young sister falsely accused him of a crime he did not commit.

• set in 1939:
The Imitation Game (2015) dir. Morten Tyldum

She played Joan Clarke, a cryptanalyst and numismatist best known for her work as a code-breaker and had an important role in the Enigma project that decrypted Nazi Germany's secret communications.

• set in 1940:
The Edge of Love (2008) dir. John Maybury

She played Vera Philips, a feisty, free-spirited woman who had a relationship with the poet Dylan Thomas during WWII.

• set in 1946:
The Aftermath (2019) dir. James Kent

She played Rachael Morgan, the wife of a British colonel charged with rebuilding Hamburg, and starts an affair with the man they're living with who was previous owner of the house they're staying in.

• set in 1970:
Misbehaviour (2020) dir. Philippa Lowthrope

And finally she portrayed Sally Alexander and her role in the 1970 Miss World competition that she and other members of the Women's Liberations movement disrupted with flour bombs.