Keira Knightley Scores Female Lead in Branagh’s ‘Jack Ryan’ Movie

While Kenneth Branagh is both directing and playing the villain in the new still untitled Jack Ryan prequel for Paramount, he’s just found a leading lady who, like him, shares a penchant for period pieces and dramatic performances. THR reports that Keira Knightley is ready to step out of her flowery corsets and into modern attire to play the wife of Chris Pine’s Jack Ryan in the new movie, beating out actresses like “Lost” star Evangeline Lilly and Like Crazy star Felicity Jones for the coveted role. This will be the first big franchise she’ll be in since Pirates, and naturally there’s talk she could reprise the role in up to three films. The role of Jack Ryan’s wife has been played on screen a few times before. Gates McFadden first played her opposite Alec Baldwin’s Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October, Anne Archer starred opposite Harrison Ford’s version …