Cal Gaunt
Keira Knightley says she had years of therapy after the ‘trauma’ of starring in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Knightley, 39, is an English actress who has starred in films such as Pride & Prejudice, Love Actually, and Bend It Like Beckham.
She also starred alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Since appearing in the popular Disney movies, Knightley has spoken out and said she found this period of her life ‘pretty horrific.’
Knightley starred in three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, portraying Elizabeth Swann.
The franchise skyrocketed the actress to fame at just 17 years old and she became an international star.
She’s since described it as a ‘traumatic’ time and said it was ‘very hard’ to deal with.
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK, Knightley opened up about her early days of fame and how her character in Pirates of the Caribbean contrasted with her tomboyish nature.
She told the publication: “She was the object of everybody’s lust.”
The actress described her entry into adult life as an ‘extreme landing’ and said she felt uncomfortable with the public expectations of women.
Knightley would take a break from acting after starring in Pirates of the Caribbean and Love Actually.
The actress told the Hollywood Reporter Awards Chatter podcast that her lack of acting training made her focus on the negative and she felt ‘worthless.’
Opening up, she said: “I felt pretty much like actually I didn’t exist and I was this weird creature with this weird face that people seemed to respond to in quite an extreme way, and I couldn’t quite figure any of it out.”
Knightley said she no longer wanted to do big-budget films following her break.
She told The Telegraph: “…The fame that came with them I just couldn’t handle.”
Prior to this, in an interview with Variety, Knightley revealed that she’d undergone ‘many years of therapy’ to help handle the ‘level of scrutiny and that level of fame’ she had found through her successes.
She added: “So looking back, would I do anything different? No, I wouldn’t because I’m unbelievably lucky now, and my career is in a place where I really enjoy it, and I have a level of fame that’s much less intense.”
Since her height of fame, Knightley has been actively involved in various projects and personal endeavors.
She’s been vocal about issues such as gender inequality, the pressures of motherhood, and the challenges of fame and the paparazzi – particularly how this impacts young female celebrities.
The actress now lives in London with her husband, musician James Righton, and their two children.
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