Keira Knightley Reveals Stalking and Misogyny Experiences During ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Fame: “It was a very violent, misogynistic atmosphere”

Keira Knightley became famous worldwide for playing Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl when she was 17. Though her experience was not always easy, she returned to the role in four more films.

Knightley, who started acting young, faced abuse, and in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, she talked about what that meant for her and whether she would let her own children start acting so young.

She said she wouldn’t allow her kids to act publicly until they were older to protect their privacy. Knightley also shared that her early acting experiences were mostly positive, and her career really took off after Bend It Like Beckham at age 16.

They haven’t expressed an interest, but I wouldn’t allow them to do anything public until they were grown up. I think their privacy is very important.

I was very lucky. I did little bits [of acting] during my summer holidays, nothing was massively successful. It was only a positive experience for me. It wasn’t until I was 16, with “Bend It Like Beckham,” that it suddenly blew up.

The actress said it was hard to lose her privacy and deal with criticism at a young age, but she understands it helped her build her career and financial stability. While she wouldn’t want her kids to go through the same thing, she’s grateful for what it gave her, even though it had a cost. Luckily, her kids aren’t interested in acting.

It’s very brutal to have your privacy taken away in your teenage years, early 20s, and to be put under that scrutiny at a point when you are still growing. Having said that, I wouldn’t have the financial stability or the career that I do now without that period. I had a five-year period between the age of 17 and 21-ish, and I’m never going to have that kind of success again.

It totally set me up for life. Did it come at a cost? Yes, it did. It came at a big cost. Knowing the cost, could I, in all good conscience, say to my kid, you should do that? No. But am I grateful for it? Yes. But then that’s life, isn’t it? Luckily, my kids are completely uninterested.

The actress said she had a stable family and supportive friends who weren’t affected by the entertainment industry. This distance from the business was important to her, and she was always encouraged to quit acting if she ever wanted to. Unlike others who might feel pressured by people making money off them, she had the freedom to stop whenever she chose.

Knightley also spoke about the hardest part of her Pirates career, when she was stalked, abused, and manipulated by others. She described it as “rape speak” and said she was in a “very violent, misogynistic atmosphere.”

My jaw dropped at the time. I didn’t think it was OK at the time. I was very clear on it being absolutely shocking. There was an amount of gaslighting to be told by a load of men that “you wanted this.” It was rape speak. You know, “This is what you deserve.” It was a very violent, misogynistic atmosphere.

They very specifically meant I wanted to be stalked by men. Whether that was stalking because somebody was mentally ill, or because people were earning money from it — it felt the same to me. It was a brutal time to be a young woman in the public eye.

Knightley said that social media made the situation worse and often has even more harmful effects. She added, “A lot of teenage girls don’t survive that.”

Social media has put that in a whole other context, when you look at the damage that’s been done to young women, to teenage girls. Ultimately, that’s what fame is — it’s being publicly shamed. A lot of teenage girls don’t survive that.

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