Keira Knightley was critical about wearing corsets for her role in Pirates of the Caribbean, despite admitting that it was an easy way to slip into the character of a royal woman. She believed that women should have burned these dresses centuries ago. While the actress’s view about the constricting garment remained the same even after all these years, she has come to accept the vitality of the costume for the character.
Knightley was just 18 when she was cast in the role of Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Apart from the challenging costumes, she also revealed that she was forced to do some stunts that she wasn’t trained for in the movie.
Keira Knightley Hated One Thing About Her Pirates Of The Caribbean Role
Keira Knightley quickly rose to prominence with her role in the Johnny Depp-led Pirates of the Caribbean films. The $600M+ collection of the first film itself meant its young stars like Orlando Bloom and Knightley got more fame and recognition. However, things were not always smooth for the Love Actually actress who opened up about her challenges while filming the role during an interview with the Star Wars Insider magazine.
Knightley, who played Queen Amidala’s handmaiden in The Phantom Menace, shared with the magazine that her role was initially planned as a damsel in distress. However, it was decided midway through filming that Elizabeth Swann, the governor’s daughter, should be a more proactive character.
She had to climb up the walls of the pirate ship and fight off villains in the film. She revealed that she had received no such training for the film. However, the rewritten badass character was the least of her problems as she hated the costumes in the film. She had to wear corsets for the role, which she called a “terrible invention”.
She believed that it was a piece of clothing that should have been burned centuries ago. The Imitation Game actress told Star Wars Insider:
“Corsets are a terrible invention. Women should have burned them, and yet they were around for centuries. The good thing about them is that they get you into character immediately.”
Knightley continued to wear the corset for her royalty roles, which she had many in her career. She wore the corset again for Anna Karenina, The Duchess, and several other films. While she wants to do away with them badly, she has no option but to wear them as her period roles demand this attire.
Keira Knightley Explained Her Hate For Corsets Despite Loving Period Films
While promoting her film The Duchess, Keira Knightley further bashed the corsets and explained how the costume contributed to discriminating women of that time. She shared that it made the women weaker as it did not allow them to breathe.
When they got emotional, they couldn’t compose themselves since they couldn’t draw a breath. Knightley revealed that it was also the reason why women fainted often at the time. Knightley shared during the TIFF 2008 (via TODAY):
“It’s not really a surprise we were known as the weaker sex, because you literally cannot get a breath. So it’s sort of, as soon as you start getting emotional, if you’re doing an emotional scene, you can’t calm down. You can’t literally draw a breath to try and center yourself again. It’s no wonder they were sort of fainting all over the place.”
During another interview with Variety, she revealed how she acted as a ‘corset consultant’ in her 2018 film, Colette. Recently, she gained attention for attending the red carpet of her film Boston Strangler, wearing Vivienne Westwood corsetry (via Vogue UK).
Pirates of the Caribbean films are now available for streaming on Disney+.
