Keira Knightley rose to fame at the pretty young age of 17, following her performance in the role of Elizabeth Swann in the Johnny Depp-led Pirates of the Caribbean. However, playing an object of desire at such a young age left her stuck and the years followed saw her trying to break out from the sexualized typecasting through projects like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement.
Presently, Knightley has established herself as a top-tier performer, and now being a mother, she expressed that she is no longer going to indulge herself in onscreen nudity directed by men.
Keira Knightley is not comfortable appealing to the male gaze
As of now, Keira Knightley has added a no-nudity clause to her contracts and even though she isn’t against onscreen s*x scenes, she is over with the male gaze. The Atonement star explained that being a mother of two daughters has also played a role in her decision to not indulge herself in onscreen nudity directed by men, as she admitted that she is too vain and “rather not stand in front of a group of men naked.” The actress stated,
“It’s partly vanity and it’s partly also it’s the male gaze. If I was making a story that was about that journey of motherhood and body acceptance, I feel like, I’m sorry, but that would have to be with a female filmmaker. I don’t have an absolute ban [on nudity], but I kind of do with men… I don’t want it to be those horrible sex scenes where you’re all greased up and everybody is grunting. I’m not interested in doing that.”
Although in times when she believes that an intimate scene would be great for the movie they are making, Knightley explained that they can shift to other actresses for the sequences and not her.
Rising to fame at such a young age took a toll on Keira Knightley
Despite being at the top of her game now, years after making her debut in the entertainment industry, Keira Knightley didn’t feel that her performances were good enough. And rising to fame at such a young age was extremely overwhelming for the actress, as Knightly had a severe mental breakdown due to the paparazzi. The Limitation Game star eventually took a 2-year hiatus from the acting realm after she was diagnosed with PTSD. The actress explained,
“I didn’t want to do big-budget films anymore, because the fame that came with them I just couldn’t handle.”
Even though Keira Knightley had a hard time dealing with her initial rise to fame, her return to the industry saw her garnering an Oscar nomination under her belt for The Limitation Game. And since then the actress hasn’t looked back and has been pretty vocal about her experiences in Hollywood.
Source: Chanel Connects Podcast
