James Righton and Keira Knightley attend the first performance of ABBA “Voyage” at ABBA Arena on May 26, 2022 in London, England.
Originally appeared on E! Online
Keira Knightley wasn't interested in bending her priorities as a parent.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" alum reflected on her decision to be more selective about her roles since welcoming her daughters Edie, 9, and Delilah, 5, with husband James Righton.
"I couldn't go job to job abroad now," Knightly told The Times in an interview published Nov. 23. "It wouldn't be in any way fair on them, and I wouldn't want to. I've chosen to have children, I want to bring them up, so I've had to take a major step back."
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It doesn't mean she stopped working altogether, however. Instead, the 39-year-old opts for projects that film in the U.K. to stay close to home, like her recent Netflix series "Black Doves."
Looking back at her time filming the first three "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, which she worked on from 2003 to 2007, it was clear that kind of schedule wouldn't be sustainable with two little ones at home.
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"The hours are insane," she recalled. "It's years of your life, you have no control over where you're filming, how long you're filming, what you're filming."
But her schedule isn't the only thing that's changed with parenthood. In fact, the "Atonement" star, who began acting at age 8, emphasized that her daughters won't be following in her footsteps to enter the industry so young.
"Particularly for a young girl, I think you need those pieces of paper saying that you're smart," Knightly explained. "Otherwise, people think you're stupid, particularly looking the way I did. That was hard."
The "Pride & Prejudice" star — who tied the knot with James in 2011— knows all too well about the harsh realities of being a young woman in Hollywood, including real concerns about her safety.
"It is brutal for young women within this industry," she reflected on the "Chanel Connects" podcast in 2021. "Being followed around 24/7 by packs of up to 30 men with their lenses, through my windows and being called a whore every time I left the house in order to invoke a reaction because the pictures were worth more if I was crying."
"Or being forced off the road, because they suddenly found that, there was a lot of money to be made out of car crashes," she continued. "So, you'd have guys with cameras trying to force your car off the road. Trying to figure out a way when, as we're all experiencing now, the world goes insane around you, how do you keep your sanity?"
She added, "It is incredibly difficult."
