Keira Knightly – ELLE’s March cover girl

Photo: Carter Smith; Styled by Joe Zee

I fell in love with Keira Knightly in Pride and Prejudice, and then even deeper in love when I saw The Duchess. As ELLE’s March cover girl she talks about criticism, her upcoming projects, and the importance of honesty.
Here is a small taste of what is to come …

On criticism of her acting skills:

Oh, they still say that! Every time I do an interview with the English press, one of their questions is, ‘How do you feel knowing that everyone thinks you’re a shit actress?’

On surrounding herself by people who tell her the unvarnished truth:

You have to be selective about the people whose advice and opinions you take. I know [my parents] would never tell me I was shit because they were trying to hurt me. It would always come from a very sincere place.

On her upcoming film Last Night:

When we were making it, the arguments on set were just amazing about whether mental infidelity is better or worse than physical infidelity. There was a huge gender divide on the question. Every single woman said that mental infidelity is 10 times worse than [an emotionless assignation]. And most men I spoke with said that it’s the physical act that would be the ultimate betrayal.