Keira Knightley reveals ‘absolutely shocking’ threats she received after Pirates of the Caribbean that led her to ‘deep therapy’

Keira Knightley has revealed she received ‘absolutely shocking’ threats after starring in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

The actor, 39, was just 17 years old when she filmed the swashbuckling blockbuster and the Christmas rom-com Love Actually. Both films were released in 2003 and catapulted Knightley to international stardom.

In the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise she portrayed Elizabeth Swann, the daughter of Governor Weatherby Swann (played by Jonathan Pryce) and love interest to protagonist Will Turner (Orlando Bloom).

Following the success of The Curse of the Black Pearl, the star then appeared in its sequels Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End and Dead Men Tell No Tales.

However, her newfound fame came as a ‘big price’. She was hounded by the press, body shamed and had to endure the paparazzi following her.

Keira Knightley was 'stalked' after starring in Pirates of the Caribbean (Walt Disney Company)

“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,” Knightley told the Los Angeles Times.

“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.”

The paparazzi who followed her incessantly would comment that their treatment of her was somehow her own doing. “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,” she added. “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.”

Keira Knightley was 17 when she filmed the first Pirates of the Caribbean film (Walt Disney Pictures)

The Bend It Like Beckham star also reflected on her rise to fame at a young age in 2016. "I found it pretty horrific. I’m not an extrovert, so I found that level of scrutiny and that level of fame really hard,” she told Variety.

“It was an age where you are becoming, you haven’t become, and you need to make mistakes. It’s a very precarious age, particularly for women.

"You’re in some ways still a child. It was traumatic, but it set up the rest of my career."

The actor even revealed in 2008, when she was in her early 20s, she had to undergo hypnotherapy so she didn't have a panic attack on the BAFTA red carpet and was later diagnosed with PTSD.

She told the Hollywood Reporter in 2018: "I did have a mental breakdown at 22, so I did take a year off there and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of all of that stuff. I went deep into therapy and all of that."

The mom-of-two also starred in acclaimed dramas including Atonement and Pride and Prejudice, the latter earned her an Oscar nomination.

Fans can also watch her in the new Netflix spy drama Black Doves, which is out now.