When people think about Pirates of the Caribbean these days, it brings to mind stories like Johnny Depp being forced to leave the series. However, long before the franchise became controversial, it made the talented young actor Keira Knightley world-famous.
Since Knightley first became a big deal, she has taken full advantage of the opportunities that fame has afforded. On the other hand, Knightley has been forced to deal with the dark side of fame including having to cope with fans saying very strange things to her.
Why Fans Hate Keira Knightley's Face
When somebody becomes a famous actor, it is fairly common for observers to develop strong feelings about them. In a lot of cases, that can result in those actors having cool interactions with fans who love them in one role or another.
In some tragic cases, however, stars have to deal with obsessed fans that make the actor afraid for extremely valid reasons. A perfect example of that is Pamela Anderson once had an obsessed fan break into her home and defile her iconic Baywatch swimsuit.
Unfortunately for Keira Knightley, it turns out she has been forced to deal with uncomfortable fan interactions on more than one occasion. While Knightley tends to downplay these incidents when she describes them, it is easy to imagine how uncomfortable she felt at those moments.
In 2021, Knightley was making the rounds to promote her movie Silent Night. When Knightley was interviewed by Yahoo!, she revealed that she once had a fan in a car next to her try to recreate an iconic scene from one of her movies.
“Y’know, I did actually get stuck in traffic once [in London] and someone in the car next to me did the whole sign thing. It was quite creepy, but it was also quite [laughs]. It was a bit awkward being stuck in traffic next to it. But it was also quite sweet, there was nothing [scary].”
After the interviewer asked her if that fan interaction was a perfect mix of creepy and sweet, Knightley focused on what made the situation off-putting. “And creepy, yeah [laughs]. I mean, it would have been much better if I could have just driven straight off, but I couldn’t.”
When Knightley was interviewed by Harper's Bazaar in 2016, she described one very nice fan interaction she'd recently had. "Yesterday I had two really lovely people come up to me in the street and just say how much they like my work, which almost never happens."
Unfortunately, Knightley then went on to talk about how she has to deal with fans talking about what they hate about her.
"[The angry ones] are very odd... It feels like you're not meant to be walking down the street doing your shopping. Or they just hate your work, in which case they say, 'I hate your work'. Or they hate your face, in which case they say, 'I hate your face'."
After Knightley revealed the wild things that people say to her when she goes out in public, she made sure to describe these interactions in a friendly way.
"But it's more like a kind of jokey, 'Oh God, I've always hated you' Or, 'I've always found your face so annoying.' I've had that quite a few times. Like, 'Oh sorry! Sorry about that.' Yeah. So there's still a couple of those, but not as much as it was."
Based on how Knightley describes these interactions, it seems pretty clear that the people who say they hate her face aren't trying to be mean. That said, no matter what those people intend, it is easy to imagine how damaging those kinds of interactions could be.
Once an actor becomes famous, society expects them to develop extremely tough skin. However, if people put themselves in those stars' shoes, they likely will see things differently. After all, if the fans who say those things to Knightley had people regularly express they hate them and their faces, they may not be able to handle that.
How The Paparazzi Risked Keira Knightley's Life
In recent years, many Pirates of the Caribbean fans have learned fascinating facts like Jim Carrey passed on the franchise. As amazing as that may be, it is even more staggering that it seems likely that Keira Knightley at one time wished she never starred in the franchise either.
Over the last several years, many people have looked back at how young female stars used to be treated with new eyes. Part of the reason for that is the documentary Framing Britney Spears cast a spotlight on how the media and the masses treated the pop star at the height of her fame.
In 2019, Knightley was interviewed by the Telegraph. During the resulting conversation, Knightley spoke about feeling the paparazzi wanted her to lose it during the early-2000s.
“The value of photographs of any famous young women at the time went up if they were of a very negative nature. So if you weren’t already having a mental breakdown, they were trying to push you into doing things that kept your value as high as those who were.”
From the outside looking in, it may seem like Knightley claiming the paparazzi wanted her to have a mental breakdown is an outrageous claim. However, based on an anecdote that Knightley went on to share, it is very easy to see why she would have believed that was the case.
“I remember Scarlett Johansson getting forced off the road in Los Angeles, then someone trying to do the same to me in Kentish Town. I told them I was going to kill somebody; they said they’d get more money if I did.”
Finally, Knightley went on to speak about feeling like she was at risk of suffering a tragedy because of the paparazzi. "It was definitely a moment I wanted to run away from. It did not feel like it would end anywhere well.”
