With an Oscar nomination and impending motherhood taking centre stage in her life, Keira Knightley explains to Stephen Milton why there is no place like home right now – and why there’s no reason why she can’t play the baddie
Keira Knightley purses that unbalanced pout, tightening the skin around her pointed cheekbones. She offers an icy stare. ‘Please,’ she says with clipped indignation. ‘Don’t bother to sugar coat it. You can’t take it away now. I’m a natural bitch, that’s what you’re trying to say.’
She throws her hands up in defence and goes to curve her seat away from me. ‘You’ve really done it now.’ What follows is a hyper dramatic flounce of her dark locks and a taut glower in my direction. And then, the actress grins widely. ‘See, I could do a good villain. But it never comes my way.’
We’re remarking on an upcoming role in The Other Typist, a still in development adaptation of Suzanne Rindell’s 1920’s set noir thriller where a lonely secretary becomes dangerously obsessed with a new recruit in the typing pool. It’s unclear which role Keira will assume – we’re both hoping it’s the darker, unhinged character.
‘It’s still all up in the air but there’s certainly a new territory there for me to explore,’ she states. ‘And away from this film, playing the villain is pure fun so of course I want the opportunity to be bad. When I’ll get that chance though…’ she shrugs with a gentle smile.
Given the recent breaking news of Keira falling pregnant with her first child with husband, Klaxon’s musician James Righton, it could be some time before the star gets the chance to play ‘bad’. Not that it’s affecting her power within the industry. At the time of writing, Keira was nominated for a Supporting Actress nod at the Oscars for a dazzling performance in Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game, her second nom after 2005’s Pride and Prejudice.
Mercifully, she eschews the polite, self-effacement offered by her peers when it comes to such glittering matters. Instead, Keira is chuffed with the recognition. ‘I’m thrilled if it happens and I’m not afraid to admit that,’ she smiles. ‘It’s wonderful earning that respect. Now you can’t base yourself around awards, that’s not healthy, but honestly, it really is fantastic.’
In structured, mesh print Chanel suit, being the long-time face of the brand, she’s immeasurably slim and undeniably breath-taking in the flesh as we chat amongst the dark, airy confines of a suite in London’s Corinthia.
In laidback, flippant humour, the North London local, who recently swapped her Clerkenwell loft for a Canonbury four storey mansion with her husband, remains resolutely glamorous.
A noted advantage in Hollywood, it’s somewhat backfired on Keira, who’s often been criticised of appearing too glossy for her work – critics voiced their vitriol on her casting as ‘plain’ Joan Clarke in The Imitation Game, the only female codebreaker who worked alongside Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) at Bletchley Park. Together, they helped crack some of the most difficult Navy Enigma ciphers during WWII and the intelligence she gathered saved countless lives.
‘I think everybody is going to have their opinions, and that’s fine,’ she shrugs. ‘They said the same with Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice so it’s nothing new. I mean, I’m not glamorous in my day to day life, so I’m kind of thrilled that people think I’m glamorous in general. I know I say that, sitting here in Chanel, saying “I’m not normally glamorous”, but I’m not!’
Due to give birth in late summer, Keira will then prepare for her next big project – Zola’s Therese Raquin on Broadway. But in preparation for the new arrival, she admits after six films in three years, a little downtime at home is in desperate need. ‘I love to work but it’s like everyone, we all burn out and need some time to regroup.’
This will surely give her time to acquaint herself with her new area in N1. ‘I’ve always loved that little pocket of North East, just off Central London. Not too close, but not too far. My idea of a lovely day is ambling round Upper Street or heading to the Barbican, so it’s nice to have the time to do that.’
As she faces a major milestone in March – her 30th birthday – does the actress hold any fears as she leaves her 20s behind? ‘None whatsoever,’ she beams. ‘God, I was all over the place in my 20s, I’m immensely looking forward to a new decade. Onwards and upwards, I say.’ Playing bad or not, Keira Knightley continues to be one to watch.
The Imitation Game is out on DVD this spring
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