Keira Knightley: ‘I don’t think you can say that beauty is a curse’

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Keira Knightley covers the new issue of Glamour UK. I’m not crazy-jazzed about the photoshoot, but that’s mostly about the questionable clothes Keira’s wearing. Her face is perfection though – if anything, I think she’s more beautiful these days than when she was younger. Her coltish, youthful beauty is being transformed into something more substantial and even more striking and enchanting. Plus, she just seems more comfortable in her own skin these days. Some highlights from the Glamour interview:

She doesn’t want her future daughter to be an actress: “I should imagine that if she wanted to act, I wouldn’t have a choice but, no, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. It can be completely heartbreaking for most people who do it, because the amount of rejection is enormous. And it doesn’t matter what kind of person you are, it’s impossible for that not to take a toll. Even if you’re successful, you still have to go through a s—load of rejection. So I would say to my daughter: ‘Be a doctor or a lawyer – something stable and useful.’”

On her good looks: “I don’t think you can say that they’re a curse. It would be stupid of me to say that my looks haven’t played a part in my career, because obviously they have. And obviously they have got be contracts with Chanel, but there have been as many, if not more, parts that I haven’t got because of the way I look. So I suppose it balances out.”

Being famous when she was younger: “I reached my peak of grown-up behaviour at 20 and 21, and it’s been downhill since then. I was terribly sensible as a teenager but I’ve got far less so as I’ve grown up, which has been a huge relief for everyone – including my parents. I’m not actually worried about turning 30. Because, honestly, my early 20s were not much fun. Then, after 25, things just got better and better. Maybe you stop caring as much about where you should be going and what other people think.”

Her wedding to James Righton: “It was a bloody good day and a lot of fun. And yes, being married feels pretty good. You only get to choose one member of your family and I made a good choice. So well done, me!”

Her favorite style icons are Bjork & Helena Bonham Carter: “I always think that all the people on those ‘red cross’ lists are the best dressed. That swan dress was my all-time favourite. I’m always telling my stylist, ‘Don’t make me too proper!’ If it’s perfect, I’m not interested.”

Don’t call her “babe”: “I don’t really notice ‘love’ or ‘darling’, but ‘babe’ I do find really tricky.”

[From Glamour & The Telegraph]

I always think “darling” is more of British thing, along with calling someone “love.” Although, funny (and true story): my deli guy calls me “love.” It’s the weirdest thing. I’m just trying to order ham and he’s always like, “Can I help you, love?” He’s younger than me too. Weird, right? I think the more American terms of endearment are probably “honey” and “babe”.

And I like what Keira says about her looks – it’s so much better than hearing an actress complain about her overwhelming beauty being a terrible hindrance. I’ve heard Keira say before that producers thought she would be “too pretty” to play Lizzie Bennett in Pride & Prejudice and when she came in to audition, they were like, “Oh, nevermind, you’re not that pretty.” Ha!

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Photos courtesy of Glamour UK.

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33 Responses to “Keira Knightley: ‘I don’t think you can say that beauty is a curse’”

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  1. TheCountess says:

    The more she talks, the more I like her. How rare is that for an actor/celebrity?

  2. Medusa says:

    I think Keira is beautiful, but does she always do the pout thing with her mouth? I love her in some films, and others I can’t stand her acting. She does come across as being pretty grounded.

    • lower-case deb says:

      i guess so. i think even to the extent that a director (can’t remember the name) actually kept tabs on her pout and tried to train it out of her.

      didn’t she say she started pouting because she had an awkward smile (something about teeth/jaw?) i’m too lazy to look it up even though i’m pretty sure it’s here on CB somewhere.

      • Jayna says:

        She kind of has a goofy smile. I guess that’s what she’s talking about.

      • Isadora says:

        @lower-case deb: I think it was Joe Wright on the set of Pride & Prejudice. She talks about it in the Graham Norton Show (I think it was the epsiode with Kenneth Branagh).

    • mkyarwood says:

      She does — she’s talked about it before in terms of it being an affectation she assumed on purpose when she was learning the ‘celebrity’ game. She figured it made her face better, and it can be tough to unlearn a behaviour.

  3. FingerBinger says:

    Her style Icons are Bjork and Helena Bonham Carter? Alrighty then.

  4. Astrid says:

    What’s up with the cover and the bobble-head look? She’s beautiful but the cover doesn’t do her justice

  5. Sixer says:

    I like her. She just says her stuff and lets you take it or leave it – no throwings of hissy fits if people don’t like any of it.

    “Love” is very British (not posh British). “Darling” is more posh British/luvvie.

    My mother’s side of the family is Welsh. They say “lovely” instead and I really like it.

    • Chris2 says:

      Or ‘dahling’, darling!
      She’s smashing, I’m enjoying her more and more, same with young Emma W.

      • Sixer says:

        Yes! Or: dahling = posh, me darlin’ = not posh. Or: pet = Geordie. I quite like pet.

      • Chris2 says:

        Sixer. 🙂
        Damn! Now I have (I wish) Jimmy Nail in his 80s heyday calling me “pet”!

        (One I sometimes come out with is ‘chuck’…..complete with appropriate accent. Gawd knows why or whence, etc. It caught on with somr Irish friends, and sounds extremely weird with a Cork accent.)

      • Sixer says:

        I’ll have Mark Strong (in his Our Friends in the North persona) calling me pet!

      • Chris2 says:

        Never saw that but jeez, ourright winner! Pass him on to me when you’re finished.

  6. Disasterluv says:

    She talks about the casting incident on the Graham Norton episode with Kenneth Branagh and Lee Mack. She’s on the show a second time with Samuel L Jackson, and both episodes are wonderful. She really is funny.

  7. bns says:

    She annoys me.

  8. Mischa Jane says:

    Keira is so beautiful, I would actually call her a great beauty, but at the same time she has this special quality about her where she can also look average or normal, which is a great thing for an actress. She seems like a very down-to-earth person.

  9. Jaderu says:

    I’ve always really liked Keira. I could be just stuck on her Elizabeth Bennet *ducks to hide from Colin Firth purists*

    Also I don’t remember sending Glamour forth to find my sex mojo.

  10. T.C. says:

    She is beautiful inside and out. She gives intelligent and self aware interviews. The media has always tried to paint her as an empty minded do nothing because of her looks.

  11. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    I HATE one armed jackets! How does that make sense? You either need a jacket or you don’t. So one of her arms is freezing or roasting.

    Warning: This comment will not make you sit up and think. It might put you to sleep. Haha, too late.

    I really need some sleep.

  12. JustChristy says:

    Ugh, what I’d give to see her play Jo March. There just aren’t enough Little Women remakes for my taste!

  13. ClaireB says:

    I get what she’s saying about rejection in the entertainement industry, but come on, if you have to advice your children towards jobs like medecine or law, tell them it’s because they’ll help their community a great deal more. Not because it’ll be gentler on their soul. It won’t. Far from it. knowing doctors and imagining lawyer’s lives, there are heart-shattering moments for them, too, the responsability is immense, and when you talk about life and death, it’s litteral.