Here's Why You Never Hear From Keira Knightley Anymore

In the early-to-mid-2000s, there were few people on the planet who were as big as Keira Knightley. The actor's breakout film "Bend It Like Beckham" premiered in 2002 when she was just 17 years old, which led her to garnering roles in films like "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and "Love Actually," and her life completely changed. "For the next sort of five or six years, I was just on a film set," Knightley said in a BAFTA interview about that time period.

On the outside, it appeared to be a stunning transformation for Knightley, but it wasn't all fun for her. "I found it pretty horrific. I'm not an extrovert, so I found that level of scrutiny and that level of fame really hard," she said to Variety of the superstardom. Since that time in her life, Knightley has taken multiple extended breaks, and she's carefully transitioned in her career so she's not nearly as famous as she once was. She's still plenty busy with work, but here's why you never hear from Keira Knightley anymore.

Keira Knightley is no stranger to stage productions — the period piece icon was involved in English productions before and while becoming famous in the United States — but much of her theater work coincided with her heyday in America. Not long after the premiere of "The Imitation Game" in 2014, the film for which Knightley received her most recent Oscar nomination, the actor made her Broadway debut in the production "Thérèse Raquin." While Broadway does influence culture in the United States, it doesn't get quite as much fanfare as films, even when a big name, such as Knightley, joins a cast. The actor's stage work didn't make a national splash like some of her previous gigs.

Her Broadway debut was a welcome surprise to many, but Knightley always wanted to be a theater actor. However, her career took a different trajectory. "The way of things, because acting isn't necessarily a job that you can really plan, I just happened to get film and television work, and I didn't happen to do any theatre. And then, once you're on that road, you just keep going and keep going and keep going," Knightley told Playbill. She starred in the musical for 75 performances before it closed, and she hasn't had a part in another Broadway production since.

In some instances, Keira Knightley wasn't present in the public because she was worried for her safety. Back in her career prime, in addition to other tragic details about Knightley, the actor stated on multiple occasions that she was being stalked. In 2016, she had multiple very serious incidents with the same man, Mark Revill. Knightley's mid-2010s stalking scare was so severe that charges were brought forth against Revill, whom she alleged had been outside her home multiple times and was arrested after her husband chased him off.

Knightley did not appear in court, but she did send a victim impact statement which was read aloud by the prosecutor and further detailed Revill's actions and how they were affecting her and her family. "Since I reported the incident to the police after he meowed through my letter box and had a scuffle with my husband on my doorstep, we are now looking to move house outside the borough," Knightley said, as reported by The Telegraph.

"I am scared every time I go outside. When I return home I have to look behind me concerned, I don't know who might be on the shadows," Knightley's statement continued. Revill was then sentenced to eight weeks in prison, required to partake in a six-month mental health treatment, and received a restraining order against Knightley and her family.

Keira Knightley's career has been largely defined by period pieces. Her most notable projects — "Pride & Prejudice," "Atonement," and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise to name a few — have nearly all been period pieces, and she's almost become synonymous with the genre. "The characters that are the best for me have been in period films," Knightley said in an interview for Build, adding that her desire to work in Europe has been another large reason for her concentration in period pieces. "I have always loved history, and I find it fascinating ... The chance in my job to suddenly go, 'Oh wow, I get to learn all about this,'" she added.

Knightley's period pieces almost always get attention, but a project that was seemingly a lock for global success never came about. In 2016, it was reported that Knightley had been in talks with Barbra Streisand to star as Catherine the Great in a biopic directed by the EGOT winner. The report generated tons of buzz among film lovers, but the project faded away without further updates. As of this writing, Streisand is directing a biopic, not about Catherine the Great, and Knightley has two upcoming projects that do not appear to be period pieces.

As noted, Keira Knightley's career took off thanks to a variety of films, including the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. The actor played Elizabeth Swann, the female lead, in the first three installments, but she opted against reprising her role for the fourth film. "I said when I finished the trilogy that that was going to be it — I had a wonderful time on it and I met some extraordinary people but you know, I think, for me three is enough, definitely," Knightley said at the time, the Irish Independent reported. Orlando Bloom, who once had a relationship with Knightley and played her lover in the series, did not appear in the fourth film either.

Years later, Knightley opened up further about her reasoning for declining to star in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." "I felt very constrained. I felt very stuck. So the roles afterwards were about trying to break out of that," she told Harper's Bazaar U.K. in 2023.

The 2011 fourth installment was wildly successful, raking in over $1 billion worldwide, but afterward the series stalled. It wasn't until 2017 that another "Pirates of the Caribbean" film would premiere. This time around, Knightley did appear in the film, as did Bloom, but only for a brief scene. While there was buzz around the reprisals, it was nothing compared to the media frenzy surrounding Knightley when she starred in the first three films.

One of Keira Knightley's most enduring projects is "Love Actually," the 2003 romantic comedy following eight couples ahead of Christmas. In 2017, Knightley and her co-stars teamed up to film "Red Nose Day Actually," a promotional film for the Red Nose Day campaign that showed where the "Love Actually" characters were years after the movie premiered.

Knightley was part of one of the most iconic scenes in the film in which her co-star Andrew Lincoln's character knocked on her door and held up poster boards with a message professing his love for her character. For "Red Nose Day Actually," the two recreated the scene with new messages, including, "Do you like the beard?" The short aired on television in both the U.K. and the U.S., and Knightley helped out with another Red Nose Day campaign in 2020.

Before that, however, the actor was honored for her achievements. In 2018, then-Prince Charles presented Knightley with an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). The honor was bestowed thanks to Knightley's long career in entertainment, and she joined a long list of celebrities who've been designated OBE, including Judi Dench, Eddie Redmayne, Adele, and her "Love Actually" co-star Emma Thompson.

Keira Knightley really was one of the biggest stars of the 2000s. From "Bend It Like Beckham" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," to "Love Actually" and "Pride & Prejudice," it was hard to go to the movies without seeing Knightley's face either on a poster or on screen. The intensity of it all wore on Knightley, prompting her to take a two-year break from acting in the middle of the decade. Knightley had worked so much prior to her break that her projects continued premiering and her absence from film sets wasn't particularly noticeable to the public. When Knightley returned to work, her star power picked up right where it left off.

It wasn't until 2018, after Knightley's fame had dissipated a bit, that the actor revealed just how difficult the mid-aughts were for her. After her return to work, life didn't improve for Knightley. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Knightley revealed that at the end of the decade, she struggled greatly with her mental health, which was largely brought on by the pressure she felt to perform well. "I did have a mental breakdown at 22, so I did take a year off there and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of all of that stuff," she said, adding that when she returned, "I felt better — I felt really good — and suddenly didn't care [about the views of others]."

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Keira Knightley gave birth to her first child in 2015, and between her pregnancy and post-partum, the actor took another year off work. In 2019, things looked a little different for Knightley. The Oscar nominee had work obligations and wasn't able to take the same extended break she'd had with her first child. One such obligation was an interview for "BBC's Breakfast," and she was certain to be honest about the realities of motherhood. "This is about the third time since I gave birth that my hair has been brushed — and I didn't brush it ... So it's all smoke and mirrors today, which I'm super happy about, but I've just sort of been led here," Knightley said, as it was just six weeks since she had given birth.

Although Knightley seemingly didn't intend to take another sabbatical after the birth of her second child, she ended up with one anyway. Or at least a version of one. Knightley delivered her second child (making it two daughters for Knightley) just months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, so while her child was still a baby, the actor and her family entered lockdown with the rest of the world. Between the birth of her child, Knightley's focus on work in Europe, and the pandemic (more on that later), the actor wasn't very present in the United States.

As noted, Keira Knightley's wild career hasn't always been good for her mental health, but it has led her to financial freedom — the actor has an estimated net worth of $80 million. Financial freedom gives creative people such as Knightley the ability to only take on desirable projects, and Knightley exercised that freedom during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Knightley, ever one to star in a period piece, was cast in the Apple TV+ screen adaptation of the novel "The Essex Serpent," but just before filming was scheduled to start, the actor dropped out. "There wasn't a comfortable scenario for Keira that could be put in place for an extended period of childcare required for the four-and-a-half-month production," a representative for Knightley told Daily Mail.

Knightley wasn't attached to much else during that time period. From 2020 to 2023, the actor only had four screen projects premiere: 2020's "Misbehaviour," 2021's "Charlotte" (more on that later) and "Silent Night," and 2023's "Boston Strangler." It later came to light that Knightley took an extended break from acting during the pandemic. "Over the past few years I've tried and failed to do so many things, so I don't want to say what I've got in the pipeline because I really feel like I might jinx it. I've actually taken the last year just to be at home with my girls, and that has been great," Knightley told Vogue.

As noted, one of Keira Knightley's only projects to debut during the COVID-19 pandemic was "Charlotte," an animated film about an artist who spent time at the Auschwitz work camp during World War II, based on the memoir "Life? or Theater?" by the titular character. Knightley voiced Charlotte Salomon, and plenty of celebrated actors were cast, too, including Marion Cotillard and Sam Claflin.

Knightley shared in an interview that she was immediately taken by the story upon reading the script, and that she wanted there to be more animated content for adults. "A lot of the ways I said lines, I wouldn't necessarily have said them that way if it was a live-action film. So it was really interesting seeing and realizing those shifts to convey more emotions through the voice than the actual line," Knightley said to Awards Watch of her work.

Knightley didn't just voice the main character of the film — she was credited as an executive producer, too. The role of an executive producer can take many forms when it comes to a screen project, and since Knightley never publicly detailed her work on the film, it's not certain what exactly she did for "Charlotte" beyond voicing the character, but it definitely required more effort than usual. The film had great feedback from audiences and decent reviews from critics, but it only made $210,000 at the box office, so it was by no means a commercial success.

If it wasn't clear from her accent, Keira Knightley is British. The Oscar-nominated actor hails from Teddington, Middlesex, England, and the U.K. is home to her. The actor currently lives in London, and like most people, she wants to work where she lives. "I do a lot of period pieces because that's my taste, because I want to work in Europe, because that's my home and generally speaking that's what's made in England," Knightley said in an interview with The New York Times in 2015. Much of Knightley's work, especially in the 2010s, has been filmed in Europe, including "Colette," "Official Secrets," and "Misbehaviour." While filming those projects in Europe has certainly kept Knightley busy, it's also meant less exposure in the United States.

In addition to acting, Knightley has been busy ensuring safety for creatives within the United Kingdom's entertainment industry. In June of 2024, Knightley put her name on an open letter urging organizations to aid in the creation of the Creative Industry Independent Standards Authority. "So many of us in this industry would have loved to have an objective outside body that we could go to for advice, for mediation and in the very extreme circumstances," the letter said, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, "that we might need some outside body to hold people accountable for the bad behavior or bad practices that sometimes happen on our sets, on our stages, behind the scenes."

Part of the reason it may seem like Keira Knightley hasn't been in the public eye as much as she once was is because she hasn't starred in a blockbuster hit in years. Since 2017, Knightley's biggest project was 2018's "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms." Part of that is by design — Knightley is very content with her current notoriety. "I'm unbelievably lucky now, and my career is in a place where I really enjoy it, and I have a level of fame that's much less intense," she said in an interview with Variety. But it's also partially because some of her work has been critically panned.

While "The Nutcracker" did well at the box office, it received terrible reviews from both critics and audiences. Some of her more recent projects, including 2020's "Misbehaviour" and 2021's "Silent Night," fared fine among critics, but audiences weren't taken with either. And if the masses don't line up to consume a project, it's not going to be a hit.

But Knightley isn't too concerned with what others think. "I'm not saying bad reviews or things like that don't hurt, because of course they do ... But I also can't take them too seriously," she said to The New York Times. "You're basically saying you don't like it when I pretend to be someone else? O.K., cool."