THE last time I met Keira Knightley she said, "Look up insecurity in the dictionary. You'll see my picture."
She was raw, vulnerable, nervous, telling me that she was worried about the way she looked, not being a good enough actor, not being a good enough friend. Admitting to all these things made her seem more real, less of the shiny, have-it-all Hollywood actor.
I tried to tell her how lovely she looked. But she just blinked away the
compliment. "If you believe the good stuff you have to believe the bad as well, so it's best not to believe anything."
This time, it's the end of a day spent promoting Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End in a smart London hotel. All the vulnerability she showed the last time had been polished away. It's been replaced with a professional look.
I tell her she looks very lovely, and she does. At 22, her skin is
radiant. Her arms look quite worked out, not particularly thin, as reported in the newspapers.
She tells me there were lots of workouts involved to get fit enough to be fighting
alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom against the bad guys.
In the third instalment, Knightley gets to wear a lot of armor for the role of Elizabeth Swann and to be in the fight scenes. "King of the pirates," she says.
The first Pirates, in 2003, brought her worldwide fame. She was 18 when she shot it and was both the love interest and the helpless maiden in need of help.
When the sequel came out last year, her role had an added
dimension: she was the resourceful tomboy in trouble. No longer just a pretty decoration, but up there with Johnny and Orlando.
I ask if life has reflected art and if she really has gone from unfortunate maiden to woman in control. "Not really," she says, never
liking to pigeonhole herself. "Very few people can be just girlish or just a tomboy. I can never make my mind up. I started as a tomboy in Bend It Like Beckham, and then later on in the year you'll see me girlish."
Knightley said that her fear of living in corsets made her beg director John Maybury to cast her as a bad girl.
In the third Pirates she looks like a warrior. "I get to deliver a big battle speech which
normally men deliver."
After so many movies, she's got something. Big movie bosses want her. But for Knightley, getting to the premiere is more terrifying than getting the part.
"The parts are stimulating at best. You take risks, and you always have to be ready to embrace failure. But girls love to get dressed up, have your makeup done. That bit is fun. It's going out in public that's the problem."
I'm confused: this woman who is constantly on the most beautiful lists really has so little self-confidence.
"I don't think it's about confidence, it's about
acceptance. Acceptance of your body is very important."
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compliment 称赞
pirate 海盗
radiant 容光焕发的
instalment (系列电影的)一部
armor 装甲
tomboy 行为似男孩的顽皮姑娘
corset 紧身胸衣
premiere 首映
Bonus points
dimension 方面,层面
Writing a blog online adds a huge new
dimension to my social life. 在网上写博客为我的社交生活拓展了广阔的新领域。
pigeonhole 分类, 归档
Because he integrates hip-hop sound with elements of R&B, pop and rock, singer Bash is not easy to pigeonhole. 歌手Bash在自己的嘻哈音乐里融入R&B, 流行和摇滚等元素,让人很难将他简单归类。
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