Keira Knightley Says She Was “Seen As Sh*t” During ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ & Now Rules Out Franchises

While she had her first breakout role in “Bend It Like Beckham,” Keira Knightley first really became a household name thanks to her role in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise. But now, years later, she has mixed feelings about ‘Pirates’ and is likely never going to do another big franchise again.

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Speaking in a new interview with the Times, while promoting her new TV series, “Black Doves,” Keira Knightley talked about what happened when she started to appear in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. According to Knightley, appearing in those films put her in an odd position, something she doesn’t want to replicate nowadays.

“It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time,” Knightley said. “I was seen as shit because of [the ‘Pirates’ movies], 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.”

As for whether or not she sees herself jumping into a new franchise now, the answer is clear to Knightley.

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“The hours are insane. It’s years of your life,” she said. “You have no control over where you’re filming, how long you’re filming, what you’re filming.”

So, that’s a no. 

You can see just how picky Knightley has become in recent years. Since 2020, we’re lucky if we get one project for her per year. She’s recently appeared in projects such as “Boston Strangler,” “Silent Night,” and “Misbehaviour.” 

If you want to see what Knightley has been up to now, you can see her in “Black Doves,” which is on Netflix.