Keira Knightley accepts that the Pirates Of The Caribbean films opened doors for her – but also reflects that she paid a personal price.
Currently undertaking promotional duties for the Netflix series Black Doves, Keira Knightley has been chatting about her time in the Pirates Of The Caribbean films with some conflicting thoughts.
Knightley took on the role of Elizabeth Swann in the films, which as she notes in a new interview with The Times, pretty much turned her into a household name. However, with that came the paradox that the franchise brought with it a heavy weight of criticism.
“It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time”, she considered. “I was seen as shit 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.”
Knightley hasn’t taken on a major Hollywood franchise since, and has no plans to do so again. Citing long hours and the lack of control you have over your time and life, she admits she’s looking for projects closer to home now, and ones that are more about entertainment too.
Oscar-nominated twice, for Pride And Prejudice and The Imitation Game, the closest she’s been to a big franchise role since was in 2014’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, but that was back in 2014 (she also popped back for a cameo in 2017’s Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge).
Film-wise, coming up she has The Woman In Cabin 10, a British thriller from director Simon Stone, adapted from the book by Ruth Ware. Not coming up, any involvement in the future Pirates Of The Caribbean films that are still being mapped out…
