Keira Knightley is unbeaten when it comes to period drama. She played ultimate heroine Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Swan in the first three Pirates of the Carribean movies, the eponymous duchess in The Duchess, Guinivere in King Arthur, Sabina Spielrein in last year's A Dangerous Method, and, most recently, played 19th century Russian aristocrat Anna Karenina in her change of heart and search of happiness. 

For most women, dressing up in sumptuous dresses day after day and getting paid for it is a dream come true, and Knightley knows it. In her latest interview with Allure she said: "Having a successful career! It's absolutely, totally extraordinary, and I'm incredibly lucky!" She said, "But....There isn't a 'but' really. That was it.... I take that 'but' back." 

It's not only in her career that she's lucky, she also got engaged earlier this year, to The Klaxon's James Righton. As yet they don't know when their engagement will turn into nuptials, but for now Keira's happy with that, saying "Maybe I'll be permanently engaged!" And when she's not working or cosying up with her future husband she travels the world. For 9 months she traversed Europe, but it wasn't long before she began feeling restless. She cited the reasons she went in the first place, saying: "I'd hit a wall and needed to step back in order to learn the things I needed to learn." But, never wanting to leave the dream job, she said: "There's clearly something in me that goes, No, actually, I know I've got something."  

Despite having the absolute dream life,  there are some aspects of the job which aren't so favorable. Media attention is a big part of that, particularly when the attention is negative. Knightley has been accused for years of being too skinny and anorexic. "I knew I wasn't anorexic," she said. "But maybe my body is somehow not right. Or my face is not right. Or the way I speak is not right. When you're going through a period where you're really getting a lot of criticism, you go, Maybe all this is right! You just kind of want to hide it all." Well, Knightley, we think you're a stunner! Keep up the good work. Check out Keira on the cover of the December issue of Allure.