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Keira Knightley had to go through years of therapy to get over trauma after starring in Pirates of the Caribbean

Home> Film & TV

Published 18:38 10 May 2023 GMT+1

Keira Knightley had to go through years of therapy to get over trauma after starring in Pirates of the Caribbean

Keira found her Pirates fame 'pretty horrific'.

Ali Condon

Ali Condon

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Keira Knightley has admitted that she had to go through 'many years of therapy' after starring in Pirates Of The Caribbean.

The actor was just 17-years-old when she appeared as Elizabeth Swann in the first Pirates Of The Caribbean film The Curse of the Black Pearl, and became a global sensation.

And, although it skyrocketed her to unimaginable levels of fame and made her a household name, Keira Knightly, 38, has since confessed that it had quite a 'traumatic' impact on her.

Keira Knightley was just 17 when she first appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean.
AJ Pics / Alamy Stock Photo

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Speaking about the fame levels she was dealing with as a teenager, Keira told Variety in a 2016 interview: "I found it pretty horrific. I’m not an extrovert, so I found that level of scrutiny and that level of fame really hard.

"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."

Thinking about her own daughter, Keira admitted that she 'really, really, really' hopes that she doesn't get into acting.

"I hope she’s going to be an environmental lawyer or something spectacular, but I’m going to be the kind of parent where whatever interest she has, I’m going to be supportive," she said.

Keira spoke about the struggles she faced after starring in the hit film series.
Disney

What didn't help Keira at the time was that she was 'incredibly hard on herself' in the early stages of her career.

Speaking in more recent interview with the same publication, she continued: "I was never good enough. I was utterly single-minded. I was so ambitious. I was so driven.

"I was always trying to get better and better and improve, which is an exhausting way to live your life. Exhausting.

"I am in awe of my 22-year-old self, because I’d like a bit more of her back. And it’s only by not being like that any longer that I realise how extraordinary it was. But it does have a cost."

Keira appeared in the first three Pirates Of The Caribbean films.
Disney

That being said, the Pirates Of The Caribbean star wouldn't take anything back.

"I’m unbelievably lucky now, and my career is in a place where I really enjoy it, and I have a level of fame that’s much less intense.

"I can deal with it now, and that’s great. But at the time, it was not so great, and took many years of therapy to figure it out."

Featured Image Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo/Disney

Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity

Ali Condon
Ali Condon

Ali is a journalist for LADbible Group, writing on all things film, music, and entertainment across Tyla, LADbible and UNILAD. You can contact Ali at [email protected].

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@alicondon

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