Keira Knightley Has Mixed Feelings About thePirates of the CaribbeanMovies: 'I Was Seen as S--- Because of Them'

Mar. 15, 2025

Keira Knightley in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’ in 2003.Photo:Walt Disney/courtesy Everett Collection

Walt Disney/courtesy Everett Collection

Looking back on thePirates of the Caribbeanmoviestwo decades later,Keira Knightleyseems to have very mixed feelings about the franchise that shot her to stardom.

“It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time,” the actress toldThe Timesin a profile published on Saturday, Nov. 23. “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.”

Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’ in 2006.Greg Gorman/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

Greg Gorman/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

“They were the most successful films I’ll ever be a part of and they were the reason that I was taken down publicly,” Knightley, 39, toldThe Times. “So they’re a very confused place in my head.”

The actress ultimately skipped 2011’sPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tidesand only appeared in a cameo in 2017’sDead Men Tell No Tales, neither of which fared particularly well with critics.

Keira Knightley at the European premiere of ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’ in 2006.Chris Jackson/Getty

Chris Jackson/Getty

Knightley previouslyexpressed ambivalence about herPiratescharacterlast year.

“[Elizabeth Swann] was the object of everybody’s lust,” she toldHarper’s Bazaar U.K.“Not that she doesn’t have a lot of fight in her. But it was interesting coming from being really tomboyish to getting projected as quite the opposite. I felt very constrained. I felt very stuck. So the roles afterwards were about trying to break out of that.”

“I didn’t have a sense of how to articulate it,” she added. “It very much felt like I was caged in a thing I didn’t understand.”

Knightley, who stars in the upcoming Netflix spy seriesBlack Doves, toldThe Timesshe’s not interested in appearing in another film franchise after her experience on thePiratesfilms. “The hours are insane. It’s years of your life, you have no control over where you’re filming, how long you’re filming, what you’re filming,” she said.

source: people.com