﻿She achieved global fame at 17 and was nominated for an Academy Award at only
20 years old. However, Keira Knightley wasn't always able to enjoy her success. The pressures
of being FAMOUS when she was so young got to the point where the actress was diagnosed with
post-traumatic stress disorder. Today, Keira is mentally healthy and can share her story
and help others with what she has learned. Keira Knightley was born in 1985 in England.
Her father was an actor, while her mother was a playwright.
The actress has revealed she was born on a bet. Her dad told her mum that they could have another
child if she sold a script. Keira's mother wrote a play called "When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream
and Shout." Not only did it get sold, but it also won many awards and ran for several years.
While growing up, Knightley could hear how her father constantly received phone calls
from agents. At just three years old, she began asking to have an acting agent herself. However,
her parents didn't get her one until three years later, partly as a reward for her hard
work trying to overcome dyslexia. Keira began getting small roles in
commercials and television. When she was 12, the actress appeared in her first blockbuster:
"Star Wars: The Phantom Menace." Knightley played a handmaiden for Natalie Portman's character.
At one point, her character pretended to be Natalie's. At that age, the two
child actresses were so similar even their mothers had a hard time telling them apart!
Although she was a successful child actress, performing wasn't Keira's
priority. Her parents only allowed her to take on roles that wouldn't make her miss
too much school. Because of this, the star mostly took jobs over her summer breaks.
Knightley's parents also only allowed her to act if her grades were good. This rule is what
allowed the actress to overcome her dyslexia and get motivated to read and work hard.
When Keira was 16, her parents finally allowed her to become a full-time actress. It was then
that she got her first big role playing a footballer in "Bend it like Beckham."
In order to play convincingly, Knightley had to train her soccer skills for about five months.
As hard as Keira worked, critics disliked her performance. Years later,
the actress confessed that she thought it was well-deserved as she hadn't gone to drama school,
so she didn't have any acting training. "It was difficult to get over that," Keira
told The Guardian. At the time, she thought, "What am I doing? I'm pretending that I can
do this and everybody's telling me I can't." However, the criticism didn't stop Knightley.
In 2003, she began starring in the franchise that would grant
her worldwide fame: "Pirates of the Caribbean." Keira began struggling with the pressures of being
famous. The fact that she was a teenager when she became well-known meant that all her mistakes were
judged even worse. Although the actress has no regrets about her career, she once confessed
that "teenage years should be done privately." When her fame was increasing, Knightley took steps
to remain grounded. Despite her busy agenda, the actress didn't have a personal assistant
because she needed to learn to become an adult and take care of herself.
Although the pressure was getting to her, Keira continued landing roles in films that
would add to it even more. Although her character in "Love, Actually" didn't have much screen time,
the storyline was well-loved, and she got a lot of attention.
Despite her success, Knightley wasn't taken seriously at the beginning of her career.
Many believed she had gotten important roles only because she was beautiful and not due
to her acting talents. This led to Keira doubting herself and thinking that maybe they were right.
However, the actress proved her critics wrong with her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 2005 "Pride
and Prejudice" adaptation, which earned her an Academy Award nomination. She was only 20
years old, which meant that, at the time, she was the third-youngest nominee ever!
However, Keira wasn't able to enjoy her success. At 22 years old, the actress suffered what she
called "a mental breakdown." At one point, she didn't leave her house for several months and
even needed hypnotherapy to attend the 2008 BAFTA Awards without having a panic attack.
Eventually, the performer was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Keira took time
off acting to focus on her mental health. Post-traumatic stress disorder develops in
some people who have gone through scary, dangerous, or shocking events. For Keira,
it was likely triggered by being chased by the paparazzi as a teenager.
The actress explained that, at the time, photographers would get a lot of money
for pictures of famous women falling apart. "It was worth their while to make you break down in
front of them," she said in an interview. "There was a level of violence, it felt, in the air."
Knightley has explained that she contemplated quitting her career altogether. Her lack of
training also made her feel insecure. "I literally felt like I was worthless," she admitted.
"I was incredibly hard on myself. I was never good enough," Keira explained. She
was always trying to get better and improve, to the point where it became exhausting.
Years later, after Knightley had relaxed, she realized just how extraordinary she
was at 22. However, she now knows that that kind of ambition comes with a cost.
Keira also struggled with being a woman in the public eye. "There's a funny place
where women are meant to sit, publicly, and I never felt comfortable with that.
It was a big jolt," she told Harper's Bazaar. The actress explained that the parts she played
presented a form of femininity that wasn't her experience since she was very tomboyish.
People saw what she projected on the screen, which wasn't like her personality.
"I felt very constrained. I felt very stuck," Keira said. The star
explained that she chose different roles afterward as a way to break out of that.
After getting treatment, Knightley continued her acting career. She landed major roles
in films like "Never Let Me Go" and "Anna Karenina." Her work on the film "The Imitation
Game" earned her another Oscar nomination. In 2011, Keira met musician James Righton.
The pair began a very private relationship and got engaged after a year of dating. In 2013,
the lovebirds tied the knot in a small ceremony in France.
The wedding was very low-key, and there wasn't much focus on material things.
Knightley decided to re-wear a dress she had already worn for a BAFTA pre-party! A
few months after the ceremony, the actress wore the dress again on a red carpet.
Keira's wedding ring was a "beaten-up gold band" made by a friend.
This low-key approach to their relationship was also translated to parenting. Keira and
James have two daughters, whom they try to keep away from the pressures of fame.
Although the actress's family allows her to be herself and relax,
Knightley has opened up about the challenges of being a parent. For example, she feels guilty
when she has to leave her kids for work. Growing up and becoming a parent also allowed
Knightley to reflect on her struggles as a woman. The actress has openly spoken
out about double standards. For example, she dislikes that only working women are asked to
balance their careers with motherhood, while the same isn't expected of men.
In 2018, the star contributed to a collection of essays titled "Feminists Don't Wear Pink
and Other lies." In her raw and unfiltered essay, Keira opened up about how her body changed during
pregnancy and after childbirth. She also described how women are encouraged to "hide our pain."
Knightley also contributed to the "Feminists Don't Wear Pink" podcast, where she once again detailed
her experiences with the paparazzi. The actress noted that, ever since she was young, the media
attention had been focused on her personal life. "Suddenly, it was all about whatever boyfriend I
might have or might not have, how thin I was or how thin I wasn't, or what my lips were
like or had I had plastic surgery," she said. Keira revealed that the photographers and even
the police acted as if she deserved to be followed because she had chosen to be an actress. After
many years, she realized that this language was the same that abusers used toward their victims.
"If you take these cameras away from these men, then what they're doing is
harassing and stalking a young woman," she added. Knightley is now in her late 30s, so she's grown
particularly interested in how women are perceived as they age. "Change is always tricky. We're told
that it's bad," she told Haper's Bazaar. Even if being famous as a woman can still
make Keira feel pressured at times, her family keeps her grounded. The actress is also grateful
that her career is now at a place where she can enjoy it. Her level of fame is less intense,
which allows her to deal with it better. The star has confessed that finding this balance
took many years of therapy. However, she's now very aware of what caused her past struggles and
isn't afraid to speak out so that others don't endure the same things. Here at Rumour Juice,
we admire the actress' courage and hope she can continue living the life that works for her.