Keira comes of age
Atonement, an adaptation of the best-selling Ian McEwan novel, is widely tipped to be one of the biggest films of 2007 and marks the transformation of Keira Knightley from teen actress to leading lady
To coincide with the film's release, we spoke to Keira, who stars alongside James McAvoy, Brenda Belthyn and Vanessa Redgrave among others, about how she prepared for the film, her views on celebrity culture and the role her parents have played in her personal and professional life.
The director (Joe Wright) said he wanted you for this role because he thought you were 'ready for it'. What do you think about that? Do you sometimes get scripts that make you think 'I can't do that, I'm not ready'?
Keira Knightley: Every single script I get, I pretty much think, 'I can't do that.' I think it's going to be a challenge or that I might just fall flat on my face but that I might as well give it a go. I think that's all you can do.
He also said he wanted you as more of a sexual character because you've only tended to play girls before. Did you talk to him about that and do you agree?
Keira Knightley: Yes, we did talk about it but not that much. I'd only really played girls before because I was one! I mean, I was 16 in Bend it Like Beckham, 17 when I did Pirates of the Caribbean and I was probably playing appropriate roles for my age. Not that I feel particularly grown-up or womanly or anything like that now, but I certainly wanted to creatively explore a woman who is much more mature and sure of herself.
Is it a case of you not being confident in your work?
Keira Knightley: I have much more confidence in my work than I did have. I'm incredibly self-critical and I'm not particularly looking to get to a place where I've got total confidence. I don't particularly like watching actors on screen who are confident in their own ability. I want to see actors who are pushing themselves. I want to see actors who are discovering new things, who are learning new things and portraying emotions in different ways. So I don't particularly think it is a profession where being comfortable and confident really helps.
Are you interested by the period this film is set in and the different style of acting that was required?
Keira Knightley: Yes, one of the things I got really excited about was doing it in that very 1940's, 1930's style. It's a style of film acting that's pretty much gone really.
It's interesting that your mother is a writer. What did she say when you said you were going to do a film based on an Ian McEwan novel?
Keira Knightley: I think she said, 'Oh that's a good book.' She'd actually given it to me when it first came out. I can't remember when it was but it was one of those things that had been lying around in my house and I never got around to reading it. I actually read the script before I read the book and cried and thought that if the script could move me like that then it must be rather good. Then I read the book and it's an extraordinary piece of work, it really is. As an actress, it's a bit of a gift really because the characters are mapped out so beautifully. I didn't have to come up with anything. It was all already there.
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