Keira Knightley looks pretty in an embellished dress as she poses with Luke Thompson after their racy West End love scene in The Lives of Others

Keira Knightley looked pretty in an embellished dress as she celebrated the press night performance of her new West End show The Lives of Others on Thursday.

The actress, 41, appeared in great spirits as she joined her co-star Luke Thompson at the afterparty following their racy performance at The Adelphi Theatre.

Keira is best known for playing period drama heroines and fiercely independent on-screen characters.

But she's turning up the heat for her latest role, in which she has a racy on-stage love scene with the Bridgerton heartthrob.

In a new production of The Lives of Others, based on the 2006 film of the same name, the actress will share a bed with the actor in scenes reminiscent of the bodice-ripping Netflix show that made him famous.

The pair are starring together in the stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning film, set in east Berlin in 1984.

Keira plays Christa-Maria Sieland, a theatre actor in a relationship with a playwright, Georg Dreyman, portrayed by Luke, 38.

In one scene, the Love Actually actress is dressed in a slinky nightie while Luke strips to his underwear.

The pair romp on the bed in what sources describe to the Daily Mail as ‘like a scene from Bridgerton’.

‘There are lots of jokes in the show about the couple having a lot of sex,’ the insider added.

A warning for the show reads: 'This production contains themes of an adult nature including: strong language, smoking, sexual coercion and rape suicide.'

The play has its glitzy opening night on Thursday evening – and fans keen to see the duo in action will need to splash the cash as tickets are on sale for up to £225.

It is set to run until January and also stars Line of Duty actor Paul Higgins.

When promoting the play on ITV’s This Morning last week, Keira insisted she had never worked with Luke before.

‘Well, do you not remember Misbehaviour?’ Luke turned to ask.

The Pride and Prejudice star took a second to think before awkwardly responding: ‘Oh no, you were in Misbehaviour, we have worked together!’

Keira tried to explain that it wasn’t entirely her fault for forgetting the actor, adding: ‘I was early days pregnant, so I don’t remember anything about that film!’

‘We were in the same film. Different days,’ Luke explained.

Since filming Misbehaviour, which was released in 2020, Luke has become more recognisable as Benedict Bridgerton, the artistic second son of the Bridgerton family.

The most recent season of the Netflix period drama follows his romance with Yerin.