Despite catapulting her career in Hollywood,Keira Knightleyhated working on thePirates of the Caribbeanmovies, andis vehemently opposed to returning to the franchise in the future.Knightley played Elizabeth Swan in Disney’s hit film series, who transformed from the daughter of a British aristocrat to a dangerous pirate in her own right. Despite the first three movies being tremendously popular, Knightley’s performance was hated at the time, and it has left the actress with a complicated view on the series.
“It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time,“the actress said in a new profile byThe Times. Keira Knightley was just 17 years old when shestarred inThe Curse of the Black Pearlin 2003. Now her performance is generally loved by fans, who often revisit the early films in the franchise. But, whenThe Curse of the Black Pearlwas released, audiences and critics wanted Knightley to walk the plank. She continued:
“I was seen as sh*t 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.”
Keira Knightley Was Horribly Body-Shamed as a Teenager Following ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’
As a result, don’t expect Keira Knightley to hoist any riggings or main sails in Disney’s long-delayed reboot/sequel. As well as struggling with the public reactions to the films, shooting an entry in a major Disney franchise also consumed her career at the time.“The hours are insane,” she continued.Knightley starred in the first threePiratesfilms, rounding out her time in the franchise withAt World’s Endin 2007. With three major Disney films under her belt, Keira Knightley isunlikely to return to any major franchisein the future. She explained:
“It’s years of your life, you have no control over where you’re filming, how long you’re filming, what you’re filming”
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The backlash directed towards Knightley followingThe Curse of the Black Pearlwasn’t just directed at her performance. The notoriously amoral tabloid newspapersfrequently put her body in the spotlight,despite being 17 during shooting. At one point, the tabloids reported that the actress was anorexic because of her slim figure. Knightley denied having an eating disorder, but the unwanted public attention left its own scars.
“I knew I wasn’t. I knew I was eating … in that classic trauma way, I don’t remember it,“she recalled. Due to the targeted attention, some tabloids put more emphasis on Keira Knightly as a body for male audiences, rather than Keira Knightley as a person and actress. While that behavior is disgusting in its own right, for Knightley, her adolescence was left scarred by the stories. She explained:
“There’s been a complete delete, and then some things will come up and I’ll suddenly have a very bodily memory of it because, ultimately, it’s public shaming, isn’t it? It’s obviously part of my psyche, given how young I was when it happened. I’ve been made around it.”
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
