Pirates of the Caribbean was first released in 2003 and quickly became a massive success. Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and, of course, Keira Knightley, the film brought its cast global recognition. But for Knightley – who was just 18 at the time – the sudden fame also came with challenges.
Portraying Elizabeth Swann made her a household name, but for Knightley, fame wasn’t as glamorous as it might seem.
“I’m not an extrovert, so I found that level of scrutiny and that level of fame really hard,” she said in a 2024 interview with Variety. “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.”
Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean
She described the experience as “traumatic,” while also acknowledging that it ultimately “set up the rest of [her] career.”
“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,” she said.
“I can deal with it now, and that’s great. But at the time, it was not so great, and took many years of therapy to figure it out.”
In an interview with The Times, she said: “It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
“I was seen as s— because of them, and yet because they did so well, I was given the opportunity to do the films that I ended up getting Oscar nominations for. They were the most successful films I’ll ever be a part of, and they were the reason that I was taken down publicly. So they’re a very confused place in my head.”
“I think everyone can be a little kinder”
Reflecting on her own experience, Knightley emphasized the importance of being “very careful with our young women,” adding: “When I work with young actresses, I’m so protective of them.
“There’s a lot of people who go, ‘Oh, you’re only here because of your face.’ And they belittle them because of the way that they look. I think everyone can be a little kinder.”
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