Keira Knightley looks back on her career and talks about the trauma of early fame
In an interview, the 41-year-old actress recalls the paparazzi pursuit in her youth and the retreat that shaped her professional choices.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
At 41, Keira Knightley takes stock of her career and the price of early fame in an interview published by Folha de S.Paulo on November 3. The conversation took place in a pub in north London, where the actress moved around undisturbed, taking off her sunglasses as she sat down.
She was 16 when she filmed "Bend It Like Beckham," the film that made her name, and 17 when she was cast in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Love Actually." Then came "King Arthur" and "Pride & Prejudice," the latter earning an Oscar nomination.
At the same time, she lived under siege from the paparazzi: photographers camped outside her home and followed her around London. Knightley said it felt as if she had been "shot out of a rocket" overnight and recalled that her therapist once told her she was the only patient whose paranoia was completely real.
To get around the pursuit, she tried to ruin the photos by repeating outfits for days or standing still in the street. At 22, she suffered what she described as a nervous breakdown and left acting for a year.
When she returned, she made different choices. "I took a step back very consciously," she said, adding that the decision determined the course of her career.