- Keira Knightley called her “Pirates of the Caribbean” character “the object of everyone’s lust.”
- The actress said she felt “very limited” and “very trapped” during that period of her career.
- “Later papers tried to get out of that,” Knightley said.
Keira Knightley reflected on her role as Elizabeth Swann in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, saying she tried to avoid being cast in similar roles afterwards.
“She was the object of everyone’s lust,” Knightley said of her “Pirates” character in a cover story for the Harper’s Bazaar UK April Issue released Tuesday. “It’s not that she doesn’t have a lot of wrestling in her. But it was interesting to go from being really a tomboy to being cast as the complete opposite.”
“I felt very limited,” she continued. “I felt very stuck. So later papers tried to try to get out of that.”
Keira Knightley as Elizabeth in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”
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Knightley first played Elizabeth, the governor’s daughter and the love interest of Orlando Bloom’s Will Turner, in the 2003 film “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”
He reprized the role in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (2007) and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Revenge” (2017).
Prior to her involvement in the franchise, she played the daughter of Robin Hood in the TV movie “Princess of Thieves” and played a soccer player in “Bend It Like Beckham.”
In between installments of the “Pirates” movies, he also took on roles in vintage movies like “Pride and Prejudice” (which earned him an Oscar nomination), “Atonement” and “Anna Karenina.”
Knightley told Bazaar UK that she felt trapped and “quite helpless” in her career between 2003 and 2008.
“I had no idea how to articulate it,” he said. “I felt like I was caged in something I didn’t understand.”
Keira Knightley as Elizabeth in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”
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Knightley admitted that she was “incredibly hard on herself” and ambitious to her own detriment, causing her to burn out.
In the years after 2009, the actor sought stage roles in London and New York City, starting in productions of “The Misanthrope,” “The Children’s Hour,” and “Thérèse Raquin.”
In terms of film, he appeared in the romantic comedy “Begin Again”, the action film “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” and the drama “The Imitation Game”.
In her most recent role, Knightley stars as reporter Loretta McLaughlin in “Boston Stranger,” based on the real-life series of murders. The film will premiere on Hulu on March 17.
