Keira Knightley is now known as one of the most respected and acclaimed actors around but there was a time when she received very negative reviews for her biggest role. Knightley first broke out with 2002’s Bend It Like Beckham, but it wasn’t until the following year’s release of Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl that she became more of a household name, especially once that franchise became a mᴀssive blockbuster success.

Unfortunately, while there was a lot of praise lobbied at the film, including an Oscar nomination for Johnny Depp, reviews about Knightley’s performance were far less kind. These reviews about her acting were also rather confusing because while the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was booming, she received widespread acclaim for another major role in Pride & Prejudice​​​​​​. Recently, Knightley spoke about these mixed reactions.

Keira Knightley Was Confused By Polarizing Reviews For Her Work

She Was An Oscar Nominee But Also A “Terrible Actress”

Keira Knightley sat down with Rosamund Pike for Vanity Fair as the two Pride & Prejudice co-stars reunited 20 years after the film’s initial release. The two talented actors covered several topics, including what it was like to film the movie, their most recent and biggest projects, and the reception for the movie. One topic brought up was Oscar nominations, which both ladies have, and Knightley addressed the fact that she received hers for Pride & Prejudice during a time when she wasn’t considered a good actress.

I think that was for me, it was because I’d had Pirates of the Caribbean had already come out but I think in the public consciousness, I was seen as a terrible actress. But I had this phenomenally big success with Pirates and I think this was the first one that was a phenomenally big success but was also critically acclaimed. So I remember it coming out maybe the same year, maybe around the same time as Pirates 2, and I got the worst reviews ever for that and then also being nominated for an Oscar at the same time. So it was in my 20, 21-year-old head, quite a confusing time.

Rosamund Pike brought up that Bend it Like Beckham was well-received and that it came before either Pirates of the Caribbean or Pride & Prejudice, to which Knightley had an interesting response:

I got terrible reviews, or at least the ones that I remember or the ones that, in your 17-year-old brain actually sink in, of course, are only the ones that are negative.

Our Take On Keira Knightley’s Comments

Her Comments Lay Out A Major Struggle Actors Face

Hearing these comments from Keira Knightley shines a light on how difficult harsh reviews can be for actors, especially when they’re young. Knightley was just a teenager when Bend It Like Beckham came out, and while that was a well-received movie, her young mind only took all the bad things said about her performance. It’s the kind of thing that can really put an actor in a bad place. Thankfully, she rebounded well.

Knightley also had to deal with the mixed response of being criticized heavily for one movie while receiving critical acclaim for another. That kind of whiplash can be very tough to deal with, especially when the harsh comments from moviegoers are included. Of course, Keira Knightley has continued to impress with stellar performances over the past two decades, which include another Oscar nomination in 2014, two BAFTA nominations, and four Golden Globe nods, among others.