Keira Knightley felt that her role in the Pirates of the Caribbean films had a negative impact on her reputation as an actress. She was, according to her own words, seen as “a terrible actress,” says the forty-year-old Brit in an interview with Vanity Fair.
When the second Pirates of the Caribbean film was released, Knightley received bad reviews again. At the same time, the film Pride & Prejudice was released, for which she received her first Oscar nomination. “That was quite confusing for me as a 21-year-old at the time,” she admits.
Before Knightley appeared in Pride & Prejudice, she starred in films such as Bend It Like Beckham and Love Actually. “I got terrible reviews for that too,” she says. “Or at least, those are the reviews I remember, or that stick in your seventeen-year-old brain.”
The actress was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder at the age of 22. The diagnosis followed a mental breakdown, which according to the actress was caused by constant criticism.