Keira Knightley says the public’s reaction to her role in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise resulted in her being tagged as a ‘terrible’ actress.
The Richmond-born actress, 40, starred as Elizabeth Swann in the three original Pirates films, which were released between 2003 and 2007.
Starring alongside Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow and Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Keira shot to global fame in the role of Elizabeth aged just 18.
The first film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, grossed roughly £480million at the global box office upon release – equivalent to around £870m in 2025.
After two sequels – Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End – the original trilogy had grossed almost £2billion when Keira first left the series in 2007.
But despite the major global success with movie fans, the Pirates franchise always found it hard to win critics over – and Keira says that problem stuck with her.
She told Vanity Fair: ‘I think in the public consciousness, I was seen as a terrible actress [after Pirates of the Caribbean was released in cinemas].’
Keira spoke to the publication recently to mark the 20th anniversary of Pride & Prejudice, which she now regards as her first project that was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.
‘I had this phenomenally big success with Pirates. [But] I think Pride & Prejudice was the first one that was a phenomenally big success but was also critically acclaimed.
‘[Pride & Prejudice was released] around the same time as Pirates 2. I got the worst reviews ever for that. But then [I was] nominated for an Oscar at the same time – it was, in my 21-year-old head, quite confusing.’
Keira starred as Lizzy Bennett in the 2005 adaptation of the Jane Austen 1813 novel, opposite Succession actor Matthew Macfadyen in the role of Mr. Darcy.
The acclaimed film also featured work from esteemed names such as Donald Sutherland, Carey Mulligan, Tom Hollander, Rosamund Pike, Judi Dench.
While the first three Pirates films were slapped with a mixed Rotten Tomatoes rating of 58% (on average), Pride & Prejudice was much more warmly received at 87%.
The films were loved by fans but were especially loathed by then-BBC film critic Mark Kermode – his co-host Simon Mayo famously started reading a newspaper instead of listening to one of Mark’s signature rants about At World’s End.
Speaking about Keira’s performance during his review, Mark said: ‘When Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom are on screen together, it’s like two chairs mating.’
Dubbing her ‘Ikea Knightley’, Mark apparently drew the ire of one Benedict Cumberbatch, who, according to Keira, defended her to the film critic’s face and even gave him a punch on the arm.
She told Elle Magazine in 2014: ‘When I saw Benedict, I said, “Did you punch a journalist?” And he said he did. Everybody needs a friend like that.’
Around the time of the release of the first Pirates film, Keira was also working with Richard Curtis on the 2003 Christmas romance film Love, Actually.
Years later, Richard revealed that Keira had several worries about starring in the seafaring series, confessing that she thought it would sink rather than swim.
‘I remember sitting down with Keira while we were shooting,’ he told ABC News, before asking Knightley what her next project was.
Richard continued: ‘She said, “I don’t think it’s going to work. It’s a pirate film, and they always fail”.’
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