The Olivier Awards have announced their 2009 nominees, and amongst them is Keira Knightley. I know, defies belief, doesn't it? Ah well. I bet she won't win it. She's up for Best Supporting Actress, by the way.

Other high profile names on the list include James Earl Jones, Rachel Weisz, James McAvoy, Imelda Staunton, Jude Law, Juliet Stevenson, and Mark Rylance. If you look at it by venue, the Royal Court is in the lead with fifteen nominations split between four productions, 'Jerusalem', 'Enron', 'The Priory' and 'Cock'. The Donmar is closest behind, with ten nominations, whilst The National Theatre has nine.

The nominee list for the new, previously reported Audience Award category, which will recognise the West End's longest running shows, has been whittled down to five: 'Billy Elliot the Musical', 'The Phantom of the Opera', 'War Horse', 'We Will Rock You' and 'Wicked'.