Keira Knightley has built an incredible career, but it’s quite likely that whatever else she might do, she will always be remembered first for two of her earliest movies. The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription) is still wildly popular and has grossed billions at the global box office, and Love Actually is so popular that its most famous scene with Knightley has been parodied more times than one can count. And yet, it seems the one person who hasn’t seen those films (much) is Keira Knightley herself.
In a recent appearance on the BBC’s Scott Mills breakfast Show (via People), Knightley talks about the fact that she’s not really one to ever watch her own work. She either avoids watching the movies she makes entirely or she sees them once at the premiere, and then never again. She explained…
I either haven’t watched them, or I have only watched them once, because it's not a particularly lovely experience watching your own face back at you. It's very strange.
Knightley isn’t the only actor who avoids watching themself. Others have spoken before about how difficult it can be. Some find themselves dwelling on their mistakes, while others just seem to get embarrassed at seeing themselves on screen. Knightley seems to be in this latter category, as she literally seems to have an issue just looking at her own face.
However, this avoidance of her own work means that, while lots of people will surely be watching Love Actually at least once over the next couple of months, as many consider it one of the best Christmas movies ever. Knightley doesn’t rewatch it every Christmas. In fact, she only watched it one time when it first came out. She said…
I have only seen Love Actually once. I saw it at the premiere and I have never seen it [again]. I think I was 18. So, over 20 years ago, I saw Love Actually.
Although having seen Love, Actually once, that’s one more time than she apparently saw the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It sounds like after seeing the second one at the premiere, she decided she didn’t want to see the third. Why? Too many close-ups of herself. Knightley continued…
I have never seen the third one. I saw the second one at the premiere, but I have never seen the third one. I just feel there’s too much face. There's just such a lot of face. Really close up, large face. It's just, nobody needs to see that.
Perhaps it’s the fact that Keira Knightley never saw the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie that resulted in her seeming to forget she had a cameo in the fifth Pirates movie. It’s easy to forget when you had your cameo, when you can easily lose track of how many movies there have even been.
Keira Knightley may not watch her movies, but plenty of the rest of us do. And I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I don’t mind her face one bit.
