Keira Knightley is one of the most talked-about women in the world, rising to A-list status with starring roles in Love Actually, Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of the Caribbean and Pride & Prejudice in the early 2000s.
And while the mother of two has seemingly taken a step back from the spotlight in later years, 2025 has seen her return to the forefront with Black Doves and new thriller The Woman in Cabin 10.
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It was Knightley’s powerful words about her early fame that made headlines this week however, as the 40-year-old actress opened up about her experience. And her shocking recollection of her early dealings with paparazzi have gone particularly viral.
“I did go mad,” Knightley explained in a recent interview with The Times of her experience handling the paparazzi. “Believe me. I went mad. I just managed to hide it.”
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“[These men would shout] ‘whore,’ ‘slut’ sometimes,” she recalled. “Particularly if I was with someone — a boyfriend, my brother, or my dad. They were trying to get a reaction out of them — provoking people into punching them, so they could sue.”
This, she explained, impacted her mental health over time, leaving her in a “hyper-vigilant state”.
“You start worrying you’re going mad, like, ‘Were they really following me, or was I imagining it?'”, she continued. “So then you’d buy all the papers — and every single time I was right. There would be a photo. Even if I hadn’t actually seen them. Because you’re in a hyper-vigilant state.”
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“It was a strange environment to find yourself in, being hounded and followed,” Knightley’s ex boyfriend Jamie Dornan has previously told the Evening Standard of the experience back in 2014.
“It’s really hideous. Fucking hell, [the paparazzi] are cretins. I couldn’t have less respect for those guys. There are so many ways to make a living that don’t involve hiding in bushes opposite houses of 18-year-old girls with a camera in your hand. That’s not making a living, that’s making a choice to be a perverted fuckhead.”
We will continue to update this story.