Keira Knightley says 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies 'Were the Reason That I Was Taken Down'

Keira Knightley shared a bold take on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies’ impact on her life in Hollywood while reflecting on her career for a recent interview.

The English actress starred as Elizabeth Swann in the first three Pirates movies, which were released in 2003, 2006 and 2007. She explored her time in the franchise, as well as other prominent roles she’s had since finding early success as a teenager, while speaking with The Sunday Times for an interview that the paper published on Saturday, Nov. 23.

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Knightley, who was promoting her new Netflix thriller series Black Doves, described the Pirates films as “something that was making and breaking” her “at the same time.” Though she said she was looked down upon “because of” the movies, the franchise’s success also led to opportunities for the now-39-year-old actress “to do the films that I ended up getting Oscar nominations for.” She ultimately was nominated for Best Actress for her starring role in 2005’s Pride & Prejudice, and received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in 2014’s The Imitation Game.

The Pirates movies “were the most successful films I’ll ever be a part of and they were the reason that I was taken down publicly,” Knightley told the British newspaper, adding that the movies now hold “a very confused place in my head” when she looks back on that time in her life and career.

Now a mom of two, the Love Actually actress has spoken previously about the difficulties she encountered after her breakthrough role as Elizabeth Swann. In a 2023 interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK, Knightley said she “felt very constrained” and “very stuck” after the Pirates movies, adding that the roles she embraced in the years that followed “were about trying to break out of that.”