Keira Knightley opens up – ever so slightly – about

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY
ST
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her new film Never Let Me Go
(she’s brilliant in it), it’s clear that Keira’s
not about to break her non-sharing
habit any time soon. It’s a consistency
you have to admire.
Just before I enter the room I hear
a great big howl of laughter coming
from Keira, 25. Sat in an armchair with
her long limbs crossed – she’s beautiful
– really beautiful – and dressed
head-to-toe in Rodarte (a chic broderie
anglaise blouse and blue printed skirt)
with her sky-high Louboutins cast aside
under her chair. She grabs my hand
enthusiastically to say hi, compliments
my blouse and notebook and happily
chats away about the film. It’s only
when you broach anything personal
that her answers become vague, but
she never loses her smile. I tell her she
should be a politician in her next life.
We haven’t seen much of Keira
recently because, apart from a brief
but well-received turn in the West End
in 2009’s The Misanthrope, she’s been
out of the limelight for a while. That’s
set to change in 2011.
She is currently starring in the West
End along with Mad Men’s Elisabeth
Moss in The Children’s Hour. And then
there’s the brilliant Never Let Me Go,
released on 11 February, which is based
on literary heavyweight Kazuo
Ishiguro’s unsettling bestselling novel,
with a script by The Beach author,
Alex Garland.
In the film Keira plays Ruth, one part
of a love triangle of childhood friends,
comprising Carey Mulligan and Andrew
Garfield. The villain of the piece,
she delivers a brilliantly contained
performance, always on the edge
of emotion and utterly convincing.
Indeed, it’s safe to say that Keira is
shaping up to be one of the finest
actresses of her generation.
A
Never Let Me Go is an incredible
novel, had you read it before you
were approached to do the film?
No but when the script came through
my door I thought, wow that’s
extraordinary, then I read the book.
I’ve read The Remains Of The Day by
the same author and I loved it.
Keira Knightley opens up – ever so slightly
– about taking a year off and playing Scrabble
aise the topic of Keira
Knightley and you’ll get
a decidedly mixed
reaction. The majority
agree that her talent is
indisputably impressive – Elizabeth in
2005’s Pride And Prejudice and Cecilia
in 2007’s Atonement are prime
examples (she was nominated for
a Golden Globe for each). But there’s
a stubborn camp for which talent alone
doesn’t quite win them over.
You can blame a society where
celebrity culture has bred such
R
extreme levels of intrusion that we’ve
grown to feel we deserve a slice of
a celebrity’s private life. So when an
actress – like Keira – refuses to divulge
the intricacies of her life, some feel
a little short-changed. Not that
she seems fazed by who this might put
out. And rightly so. After all – we can’t
remember being asked about our love
lives during a professional meeting
or job interview.
When Stylist meets her at the Soho
Hotel in London where she’s been
holed up doing interviews all day for
R
WO R D S : A L I S O N TAY LO R P H OTO G R A P H Y: JA M E S W H I T E
Ruth’s character is very jealous,
can you be?
I think jealousy is an emotion everybody
can relate to. I’ve never met anyone
who hasn’t experienced it at some time
or another, which is why I was
interested in her. She’s horrible. She’s
got a lot of rage. You meet people like
that and you don’t want to be near
them, let alone try to understand them.
Did you think of specific things in
your life that you could relate it to?
Sure, but nothing that I’m going to
share! [Laughs]
WE ALL HAVE BAGGY BLACK
JUMPERS. WE DON’T HOWEVER
LOOK LIKE THAT IN THEM
You play it well, though,
because ultimately you
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KEIRA KNIGHTLEY
don’t hate her, you kind of
sympathise with her…
You think so? Well, it would’ve been
very easy to hate her. You don’t forgive
her but you do sympathise. Some
people do great harm and I’m not
convinced they should be forgiven.
When was the last time you went out
and got drunk?
Last Saturday night.
Where did you go?
Obviously not going to tell you that!
[Laughs]. Somewhere private that
won’t be private anymore if I tell you.
It was great fun though!
Do you think girls are more likely to
have complicated friendships?
All friendships are complex. I think
guys have the same thing, they’re just
better at beating each other up and
moving on to have a pint at the pub.
Do you have a best friend?
Yes, I’m going to keep her name out
of it though because she wouldn’t
appreciate her name in print! [Laughs].
What advice would you give to a
young actress starting out now?
I don’t know that I’ve got any advice. I
think people do things in the way that
they do. You could say don’t give up,
you could say just keep going…
KEIRA WITH CAREY MULLIGAN
AND ANDREW GARFIELD IN THE
HAUNTING NEVER LET ME GO
What do you like to do when you
hang out with your friends?
Drink wine and chat. That’s about it.
Go to art galleries, sometimes go to
the theatre. We just hang out.
The Duchess, so it’s a lot less work on
my part, which has been great.
How is working in the West End?
With theatre the live audience is a
wake-up call. Even if you’re tired, you
suddenly switch on. But with film it’s
there forever if you f**k up! When you
see a moment like that, you know you
were tired and not on your A-game, it’s
the worst f**king feeling in the world.
Was it fun working with Carey again?
You first meet when you filmed Pride
And Prejudice…
Yes, it was lovely. Pride And Prejudice
was extraordinary for me because I’d
never worked with anyone my own age
before. Carey and I were both 19 and it
was the first time on set I’d ever had
girls who liked the same things that I
did. Working with her again we were
able to bring our history to it.
You’ve also done a few short films
recently, including Steve [directed by
Would you do anything differently?
There were some choices that
I didn’t enjoy but no it’s all a process
of experiences.
life but I will say I’ve been really lucky
with the directors I’ve worked with.
How to answer the question without
answering the question!
The Coco Mademoiselle ad, directed
by Atonement’s Joe Wright, is
excellent – was that fun to make?
Yes it was great. We’ve just done
another one and it’s brilliant. With the
first one I think we were all a bit
worried because we didn’t know if it
was going to sell well and it was taking
over this enormous thing. It was quite
frightening! But the latest one, because
we went in with the same team we had
a really lovely time.
Looking at the decisions you’ve made,
what ranks up there up with the best?
That’s a huge question. I’ve no idea.
I took a year off [between 2007 and
2008]. I don’t know if it was the best
decision but it was a good one.
How did it benefit you?
It was just a bit of a rest! A long rest!
“I’m really bad at Scrabble. But
I’m dyslexic so a dyslexic playing
Scrabble is always quite funny”
What did you do to let off steam?
Played Scrabble! Andrew and Carey
played and I was really sh*t so I sat and
watched and tried to learn from them.
now ex-boyfriend Rupert Friend who
she split up with recently]…
Because it’s completely creative, you’re
never going to earn any money out of
it. I do this because I love it but the
selling of it is really quite difficult.
Scrabble has a nasty habit of making
people feel stupid…
Well I’m dyslexic so a dyslexic playing
Scrabble is always quite funny!
You’ve got a couple of films about to
come out this year [romantic drama
Last Night and David Cronenberg’s
A Dangerous Method] but it feels like
we haven’t seen you for a while…
It probably seems like I’ve been really
busy but I haven’t played a lead since
Will you be you promoting Steve?
No. It’s at The London Film Festival but
I think I could get my own screening at
home if I wanted to. [Laughs].
What was it like working with Rupert?
I obviously don’t talk about my private
How would you describe your style?
I don’t have any. Well, I’m scruffy.
Do you enjoy getting ready for carpet
events, though?
As long as I do it rarely, then I enjoy it.
It’s always nice to have an occasion to
wear a silly frock and get dolled up but
I’m not really that sort of person.
I was exhausted. I think there’s a point
where you can just keep going and
you’re a bit of a zombie or say no and
take a step back.
What’s been your favourite redcarpet dress?
An amazing sparkling dress for the
Venice Film Festival for Atonement. It
was nothing like I’d normally wear
and I felt like a princess.
Did you travel?
I literally did nothing I have to give
interviews about, which is such a relief!
So I’m going to leave it at that.
What do you like to do to let your
hair down?
I just like to hang out with mates, drink
wine, eat good food and watch movies.
Keira is in The Children’s Hour at the
Comedy Theatre until 2 April. Never Let
Me Go is released 11 February
KAZUO ISHIGURO’S MUST-READ NOVELS
A PA L E V I EW O F
HILL S (1982)
In his acclaimed
debut, Ishiguro
tells the moving
story of Etsuko,
a Japanese
woman living in London who
is attempting to come to terms
with her daughter’s suicide.
A N A RT I S T O F T H E
F LOAT I NG WO R L D
( 198 6)
This intimate,
beautifully crafted
character sketch is
narrated by Masuji
Ono, an ageing painter, who looks
back on his life and how his once
great reputation has faltered.
THE REMAINS OF
T H E DAY ( 198 9)
An insightful, often
humorous and
moving story of a
butler in post-World
War II England
who has dedicated his life to his
profession. It was made into a 1993
film starring Emma Thompson.
W I N V I P T I C K E T S T O S E E K E I R A’ S N E W P L AY A T S T Y L I S T. C O . U K
4 4 u W W W. ST Y L I ST .C O.U K
N E V E R L ET M E
G O (2 0 0 5)
This story depicts
the moving
love triangle
of Kathy, Tommy
and Ruth, clones
who are living their lives in a
prolonged limbo, waiting for the
call to donate their organs.
PHOTOGRAPHY: JAM ES WHITE / TRUNKARCHIVE .CO M
The Booker Prize-winning British author of Never Let Me Go has 29 years of great fiction behind him, here are his highlights