Keira Knightley Had Years Of Therapy After The ‘Trauma’ Of Starring In Pirates Of The Caribbean

Keira Knightley had to have years of therapy following the ‘trauma’ of starring in Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Knightley, 38, is best known for her roles in films like Bend It Like Beckham and Love Actually.

She also had a starring role in Pirates of the Caribbean alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom – which she explains had a pretty lasting effect on her mentally.

She’s revealed she was left in therapy after the trauma she suffered during the role.

In the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Knightley portrayed the character Elizabeth Swann.

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Knightley appeared in a total of three Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

She played Swann in the first three instalments of the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007).

But Knightley’s age during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean has left fans pretty uncomfortable.

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After doing the maths, they’ve worked out exactly how old she was when she starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

And they’re far from happy with the answer.

Acting alongside Bloom, who was 25 at the time, and Depp, then 39, Knightley was actually still a teenager at the time.

Knightley was born on March 26, 1985, and The Curse of the Black Pearl was released in July 2003. This means Knightley was just 17 years old during filming.

Things get a little creepier when we remember that Bloom actually plays her love interest in the movies.

One fan wrote on Twitter after realising her age: “She was 17?! WHAT, I never knew that.”

Another added: “NO WAY! That is crazy.”

And Knightley has since revealed that she went through ‘many years of therapy’ after playing the role.

The Pride & Prejudice actress tells Variety: “I found it pretty horrific. I’m not an extrovert, so I found that level of scrutiny and that level of fame really hard.

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“It was an age where you are becoming, you haven’t become, and you need to make mistakes. It’s a very precarious age, particularly for women.

“You’re in some ways still a child. It was traumatic, but it set up the rest of my career.”

She even reveals that she hopes her own daughter doesn’t suffer the same fate, and hence chooses a career path away from the spotlight.

Knightley adds: “I hope she’s going to be an environmental lawyer or something spectacular, but I’m going to be the kind of parent where whatever interest she has, I’m going to be supportive.”