Are You Baby Keira?

Today, Keira Knightley turns 21. (Happy Birthday, Keira, you've come of age, well done - now, please, choose at least one half decent film to appear in this year. 2005 really was an awful showing - Domino and Pride and Prejudice? I wouldn't wish that double bill on my worst enemies).

In June, Keira begins shooting Atonement, an adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel. Joe Wright, who directed Keira in Pride... will be doing so again, which just about extinguishes any hope I might have had for the project. Nonetheless, it's going to get made, and to help it get made, there's a casting call out. Wannabe Dominos and Ron Weasleys, read on...

While Keira will be playing the lead role of Briony Tallis throughout most of the film, she is a character who first appears at a much younger age - and this young counterpart to Keira needs casting. I assume a likeness to Ms. Knightley would be advantageous to candidates, but Wright has also specified that he is looking for a girl who is "intelligent, possibly old beyond her years and who is interested in acting rather than becoming a star". Curiously, no age range has been mentioned, so four year olds are seemingly as welcome to apply as fourteen year olds.

Two further little pairs of shoes need filling - "a pair of red-headed twin boys aged 7-10 (identical or non-identical but ideally very similar looking)".

So, if you have children that fit one of these descriptions and want to mortgage their innocence for a fraction of its worth, send an e-mail application, including an up-to-date photograph, to atonementcasting@yahoo.co.uk