Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Keira Knightley interview
Interview by Rob Carnevale
KEIRA Knightley talks about revisiting the role of Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest…
Q. What was it like to be able to go back and take on these characters again?
Keira: It was quite scary actually. I have obviously never done a sequel before and I’ve always said of any of the characters that I’ve played that if I played them now, I’d play them completely differently. So it was weird trying to find a continuity with a character that I’d played when I was 17. We actually had big problems because she was quite black and white in the first film, very straight-laced, and we couldn’t really see how to carry her on – so we went off into a grungier look for her. That was really exciting, to take the character and make her grow up. I don’t know if there’s any continuity with the first film but it was fun anyway [laughs].
Q. Was there any extra pressure on you this time?
A. Well, when we did the first film nobody thought it was going to work – we were doing a film that was based on a theme park ride and a pirate film that hadn’t worked in 50 years. Everyone was going: “This is going to be awful.” So to come back and do a sequel to something that was such a surprise success and something that’s so well liked. You’re never really involved with a film that people actually go: “We love this, and we’re really excited about what you’re dong.” So that was lovely.
Q. Given the gap of two years in between filming, how hard was it to get back into shape and get costumed up again?
A. Well, the costumes at the beginning of number 2 are quite similar to the ones in Pirates 1, so it was really like we’d been filming Pirates of the Caribbean for the whole time and we’d never stopped. It was the same crew, more or less, and a lot of the same cast members. So it was very easy just to slip back into it.
Q. You get to do a lot more sword-fighting in this one. How much did you get to do and was that fun?
A. We had a great stunt team and they did get us personal trainers. But for both me and Orlando it was important to do as much of the action ourselves as possible. For me, it’s really boring if you’re doing an action movie and you’re not actually involved with it. So we did a couple of weeks training before we started and then throughout we were with the stunt department.
Q. Was it a condition of coming back this time that you got to dispense with the corsets?
A. [Laughs] I love the idea that I could say I would only come back if you don’t let me wear a corset. But no, it wasn’t. I think they really liked the more action-based side of Elizabeth from the first film and apparently that’s what little girls really responded to, so they decided to take her off in that direction. But I had nothing to do with – or the kiss [with Johnny Depp] either, although I was really happy that there was one!
Q. How did you keep a straight face during some of your funnier scenes in the film, especially with Johnny Depp?
A. Don’t look at Johnny! Ignore him at all costs. He was actually quite nice because he wouldn’t do the full Jack Sparrow routine if the camera was on you. But as soon as the camera turns around, you couldn’t do any off camera lines because you were laughing too much. I think there will be a lot of out-takes of everybody pissing themselves in the middle of a scene. I remember the crew standing around with tears running down their faces. They were desperately trying to keep it in.
Q. And what was it like doing scenes with Bill Nighy, particularly as he wasn’t in his make-up for Davy Jones?
A. He was wearing this really nasty grey tracksuit the whole time with dots everywhere. I hadn’t got a clue what he was going to look like so everything was exaggerated. It was fascinating from my point of view to watch him. But I also felt sorry for him because I’d read that he’d wanted to do a pirate movie in a big pirates’ hat and there he was in a skin-tight grey catsuit!
Q. The press pack talks about falling coconuts, hurricanes and all sorts of hazards. How much danger were you in at any time?
A. We got evacuated twice and the other side of the island was hit once by Hurricane Wilma. The devastation on that side of the island was horrific – I mean really, really bad. So we as a film company were very, very lucky but the actual island was hit very badly. I don’t think anyone got hit by falling coconuts.
Q. Which scene was the hardest to shoot?
A. I think any of the scenes with the kraken were the hardest because there was actually nothing there. It was mostly the director, Gore Verbinski, running around going: “I’m the tentacle, I’m the tentacle!” He was trying to explain it to us by saying that it was just like a big squid but that didn’t help.
Q. You obviously still have part of the second sequel still to shoot. What lays ahead that fills you with excitement or dread?
A. We’re going to be shooting in a place called Palmdale which is about two and a half hours outside LA. It’s not really the prettiest place on Earth but apparently they’ve built some amazing sets there. But it’s been really great to have a break. We’ve been working for over a year on it and everybody needed a breather. The time off has been fantastic. Now we’re all really excited to get back. There’s some great sequences in number three that we’ve already shot but we’ve got half the movie still to do. And I’m not going to say anything more about it because I don’t want to give it away.
Q. Did it ever get confusing shooting the two films back to back?
A. Towards the end it did get really confusing because that’s when we really did crossover with 3. I did some of the press in LA without having seen the second film and couldn’t remember what was in 2 and what was in 3, so therefore had no idea what the storyline was. It was lovely seeing it and going, “oh that’s how it all works”!
Q. You’ve come so far so fast. How easy is it going from the whole Hollywood thing and filming in the Caribbean to coming home to London? Can you live a relatively normal life?
A. I haven’t really stopped working. Even though I’m in London at the moment I am still working on another film. I’m an awful one for burying my head in the sand and sort of ignorance is bliss, so I try not to notice anything. So I suppose that’s how I cope with it. Yes, it’s rather strange, people are now calling my name in the street, which is always a little bit odd. But I can live a relatively normal life – with photographers chasing me around. Apart from that it’s fine.
Q. You’re known for being quite outspoken with some of your comments. How come?
A. Ooh, I don’t know, am I? Ok, I don’t read anything that’s written about me only because it would be completely unhelpful – anything nice is probably too nice and anything nasty is probably too nasty. Either way, I just figure that ignorance is bliss. I have no idea what I’m saying really [laughs]! I’m always getting quoted back at myself and thinking: “Oh no, did I really say that?” I guess I can’t stop myself.
Q. Some papers commented after the UK premiere of the film that you looked really skinny and had lost a lot of weight. How does it feel to read things like that?
A. It was really weird, they asked me yesterday: “How does it feel to always be called anorexic?” I had no idea that I was and can safely say that I’m not. I’ve got a lot of experience with anorexia, it was in my family hugely – my grandmother and my great grandmother suffered from it and I’ve got a lot of friends from school who suffer from it so I don’t think that it’s anything to be taken lightly. I don’t have it, I’m very sure I don’t have it. But I suppose that in a way it’s good that it’s out there and people are talking about it. It’s quite interesting because it’s normally high achieving young women that suffer from it and control freaks. So it’s understandable why you’d associate that with high achieving people in the film industry as well. I’m not saying that there aren’t people that suffer from it because I’m sure that there are but I’m not one of them.
Q. How do you feel about being a role model for young people?
A. I completely reject being a role model for a young person. I think it’s completely ridiculous. I don’t think that you can ask anybody to be a role model for somebody. The idea that you put someone up there and say “that’s an ideal, that’s how you should behave”. I’m the first to admit that I make mistakes all the time. I think you can play characters that are role models, such as Elizabeth Bennett and Elizabeth Swann – I’m having a good time with the Elizabeths here. But equally I don’t think that you should only play characters that are good role models, I think that would be ridiculous as well. But it’s lovely when you do play a character that people really look up to, that’s great.
Read our Johnny Depp interview
Read our interview with Orlando Bloom