Keynes was born in London, the son of Zelfa Hourani and author Randal Keynes. He has an older sister, Soumaya Anne Keynes (born August 1989), who has appeared in various productions for BBC Radio 4.
On his mother's side, Keynes is of Lebanese, Persian, and Turkish descent.[5] His maternal grandparents were Furugh Afnan and Cecil Fadlo Hourani, who was an advisor to the late Tunisian president Habib Bourguiba, as well as an author; Cecil Hourani is also the brother of Albert Hourani, a major historian of the Middle East. The Hourani family were immigrants to England from Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon.
On his father's side, Keynes is the grandson of physiologist Richard Keynes, the nephew of historian and Cambridge professor Simon Keynes, and the great-great-nephew of economist John Maynard Keynes.[6][7] His great-great-great-grandfather was naturalist Charles Darwin. Keynes' great-grandparents were Nobel Prize laureate Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian and Hester Adrian, Baroness Adrian.[8]
Keynes auditioned for the role of Edmund Pevensie in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the same time as he auditioned for the role of Simon Brown in Nanny McPhee, winning the former while losing the latter to Thomas Sangster. His voice changed, due to puberty, during the filming of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,[9] so the director used his sister Soumaya to voice some of his lines in the movie.[10]
He reprised his role as Edmund in Prince Caspian, released May 16, 2008.
He starred again as Edmund in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third instalment of The Chronicles of Narnia film series. Filming began in July 2009, and finished in December of the same year. The film was released on 10 December 2010 in Britain and the US.
Keynes has stated that he is an atheist.[11][12] Keynes attended the Anna Scher Theatre School from 2000 to 2005, having attended Thornhill Primary School from 1996-2002. He attended the all-boys City of London School. There he wrote as a film critic for the review section of The Citizen, the City of London School weekly school newspaper. He sat his GCSEs in May and June 2008 and started Sixth Form and his first year of his A-level studies the following September. He studied biology, chemistry, maths, further maths and history at A-level.[13] In October 2010 he began his degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern History at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is a fan of English football club Arsenal.
Keynes currently resides in Highbury, London.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Victoria Died in 1901 and Is Still Alive Today | Waif | TV documentary |
| 2003 | Ferrari | Enzo Ferrari at 8 years old | TV movie |
| 2005 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Edmund Pevensie | |
| 2008 | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | Edmund Pevensie | |
| 2010 | The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader | Edmund Pevensie |
Wins
| Year | Award | Award Ceremony |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Best Younger cast | CAMIE Awards |
[edit] Nominations
| Year | Award | Award Ceremony | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Best Performance in a Feature film - Leading Young Actor | Young Artist Awards | |
| Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble Cast | |||
| 2011 | Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble Cast |