LIVELY LIZZIE KEIRA KNIGHTLEY IS SEDUCING AUDIENCES IN 'PRIDE & PREJUDICE'.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

At the tender age of 20, Keira Knightley already has experienced the ups and downs of the acting game several times over.

So far, it's been a blast.

``I'm very aware that this is a profession that, you know, comes and goes in a second,'' says the sharp-witted English lass. ``That's what makes it beautiful. But you have to enjoy your moment, because it's only a moment, and then it's gone. And that's fine.''

Right now she's on the high end of another rise-and-fall cycle. Knightley is receiving raves for her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in the latest film adaptation of Jane Austen's ``Pride and Prejudice,'' which has already made a small fortune in Europe, and opened here earlier this month to unexpectedly rave reviews. Many are already dubbing Knightley as one of the front-runners in the Oscar best actress category.

This after the instant crash and burn in October of ``Domino,'' Tony Scott's psychotropic ``interpretation'' of doomed bounty hunter Domino Harvey's bizarre life. Though Knightley threw everything she had into the picture, most critics couldn't take it (though this particular one had a great time), and the film died a quick box-office death.

No apologies from Knightley, though, who's seen her star rise with ``Bend It Like Beckham'' and ``Pirates of the Caribbean,'' fall with ``King Arthur'' and ``The Jacket,'' and now rocket again, all within little more than two years.

``You've got to keep your mind active,'' reckons the actress, who famously developed her chops as a dyslexic child by memorizing books on tape. ``That's why I did 'Domino' straight after 'Pride & Prejudice.' It was terrifying. But in life, I think, I play things very, very safe. I'm not a risk-taker in any way. But in my professional life, I take risks. I think that's the only way to do it. Sometimes I'm going to make huge mistakes. But at least I'll have given it a try.''

``Pride'' succeeds by taking a few liberties with the sacred Austen text itself (there's even a kiss at the end of the American cut, though not the European one). Set in 1796, when it was written, rather than the more conventional 1813 when the book was published, it's a subtly grungier, more politically/economically savvy and realistic take on the material than we've seen before.

In fact, director Joe Wright, a veteran of contemporary British television drama, initially felt that the lithe, picture-pretty Knightley was too perfect an English rose for the strong- willed second of the five unmarried Bennet sisters.

``Originally, I thought that Keira might be too beautiful to play Elizabeth Bennet,'' Wright confirms. ``I thought that Elizabeth should probably be a little bit plainer. But I was excited to meet her nevertheless, and I did so in a dark, basement bar of a Montreal hotel late one night.

``She was an extraordinary, tomboyish, scruffy kid who speaks her own mind and doesn't say what she thinks you want to hear. She has an incredible wit and independence of spirit. All of those qualities suggested to me that she was a perfect Elizabeth Bennet, regardless of the fact that she was probably a little bit too pretty.''

``I've heard that Aishwarya Rai is the most beautiful woman in the world,'' Knightley says of the Indian actress who starred in the recent Brit/Bollywood update of the Austen novel, ``Bride & Prejudice.'' ``I think it's a bit rich that people say that I'm too pretty to play Elizabeth Bennet. If she's played it ... !''

Knightley's mock indignation belies the great deal of effort that she put into bringing one of her favorite literary characters to life. (Yes, she devoured a ``P and P'' book on tape, and the print version several times after she trained herself to read). The character's spunky individualism does correlate with Knightley's own nature. But getting the 18th-century particulars of it right required a lot of study.

``She is both modern and completely of her time,'' the actress notes. ``What you have to do when you're playing a character like Lizzie, who is to some degree quietly a rebel, you have to know exactly what the rules are. So we had etiquette classes when we were doing the film, we had a historian come in and lecture us. You have to know your period in order to break the rules.

``There are simple things that maybe an audience would never pick up, but for me, playing the character, are very important. Like in the ball scene, Elizabeth Bennet doesn't wear gloves. That's incredibly rebellious because everybody would've worn gloves. And there are things - like she slumps, she puts her elbows on the table, she laughs out loud, and she doesn't cover her mouth. Those things were terribly important for me, and it's fun to know for yourself when you're actually breaking the rules and when you're not.''

Helping to get in character, of course, are all of those lovely period frocks and the extravagant grooming of the time.

Yeah, right.

``It gets quite annoying, actually,'' Knightley says of hair and makeup and all the rest. ``You normally find that, the first couple of days of filming, you have about two hours to get ready, which means that your call is at some ridiculous hour in the morning, like about 4:30. So you just really resent the costumes.

``But what's great is, as the movie goes on, you learn tricks about how to get into them really quickly and tricks about how to do the hair and makeup so it's only going to take 20 minutes. And it's quite nice because it brings a realistic quality to the costumes. You get quite messy about it. I'm always very precise for the first couple of days; it's got to be a certain way. By halfway through the film, you just live in them.''

Whatever aids such things provide, it's understanding the character that's the key to a successful performance. As Wright intuited, possessing some of Lizzie's personality qualities was also a big help.

But how stubborn is Knightley, really?

``Can be,'' she chirps. ``I've had my moments. But I can't be bothered to be stubborn all the time. Professionally, I'm not hugely stubborn. I like to be told what to do, I like directors with a vision.''

What about personally? Does Keira put guys through the wringer the way Lizzie does Mr. Darcy?

``No, it's the same thing,'' she says. ``I am somebody who'll just go, 'Oh, whatever.' ''

At the moment, Knightley is alternating working hard and trying to kill time at the remote Bahamas location of the next two ``Pirates of the Caribbean'' movies, which have been shooting simultaneously since February and are scheduled to continue through next March.

``I'm not sorry I got involved in these things; it really is great,'' she says. ``It's just that it's a long time. I can't even see the end of it.

``But what's nice is that it's like piecing together a jigsaw, and you feel like you've accomplished something at the end of the day. And all of the guys - the cast is fantastic, and it's all the same people again. But you slightly get island fever because there's not a lot to do. I've gotten through more books than I've ever read in my entire life. I definitely prefer working down there. Those islands are great for holiday, i.e. a week or two weeks. But not for months.''

That said, it more than beats trying to eke out a living on the London stage and in the British TV industry, as Keira's actor dad, Will Knightley, and playwright mom, Sharman Macdonald, did for many years.

``I come from a family of actors, I know what this profession is. I know the highs, and I know the lows. I know how lucky I am. And it is lucky.

``I'd love to say yes, I've worked really hard and I completely deserve it,'' she says of the current accolades. ``I don't deserve it. I've worked hard because I've been allowed to work hard. Acting isn't like being a musician or an artist. If you don't get paid work as an artist, you can still paint. If you don't get paid work as a musician, you can still make music. If you don't get work as an actor, you can't really act. You need the work to be given to you. So, yeah, I'm very aware of how fortunate I am.''

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- cover -- color) Keira Knightley

Her Elizabeth Bennet in `Pride & Prejudice' is drawing Oscar talk

(2) no caption (Keira Knightley)