Keira Knightley has recalled the “shocking” ordeal of being “stalked by men” at the start of her career.
The actress, 39, shot to fame in Love Actually and became a global sensation after playing Elizabeth Swann in 2003’s Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl when she was just 17.
“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,” she told the Los Angeles Times.
Knightley said that while the Pirates franchise “set her up for life” financially, it “came at a big cost” with harsh scrutiny and body-shaming.
The Black Doves star added that her “jaw dropped” at the amount of people who would follow her in public spaces at the height of her fame.
“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,’” she said.
“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.”
Knightley appeared in three of the five Pirates Of The Caribbean films opposite Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow and Orlando Bloom as love interest Will Turner.
She began acting aged eight on the TV show, Screen One, before becoming Natalie Portman’s double in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
The Atonement star was 16 when she landed her breakout role as tomboy footballer, Jules Paxton, in 2002’s Bend It Like Beckham and 18 when she starred in the 2003 Christmas classic, Love Actually.
Knightley recently said she feels “confused” about her experience of filming the Pirates franchise.
“It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time,” she told The Times.
"I was seen as s*** because of them, and yet because they did so well I was given the opportunity to do the films that I ended up getting Oscar nominations for [Pride & Prejudice and The Imitation Game]," she said.
"They were the most successful films I'll ever be a part of and they were the reason that I was taken down publicly. So, they're in a very confused place in my head."
