Keira Knightley reveals why she’ll never do a franchise again after Pirates of the Caribbean fame

Keira Knightley has ruled out appearing in a franchise again after starring in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, revealing that the ‘insane’ schedule takes ‘years of your life.’

The Oscar-nominated actress, 39, famously starred as Elizabeth Swann in the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films from 2003 to 2007 alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom.

Reflecting on her experience of those movies, Keira alluded to feeling powerless over her life.

She also said that despite the films catapulting her to worldwide fame, she’d been left ‘confused’ because she was also ‘taken down so publicly’ for appearing in them.

‘It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time,’ she said in a recent interview with The Times.

‘I was seen as s*** because of them, and yet because they did so well I was given the opportunity to do the films that I ended up getting Oscar nominations for [Pride & Prejudice and The Imitation Game]. 

She famously starred as Elizabeth Swann with Orlando Bloom, who played Will Turner

‘They were the most successful films I’ll ever be a part of and they were the reason that I was taken down publicly. 

‘So, they’re in a very confused place in my head.’

Keira made her Pirates of the Caribbean debut in the 2003 original Curse of the Black Pearl.

She would later reprise her role in the 2006 film Dead Man’s Chest, and then again in the 2007 film At World’s End.

But that’s it for Keira, who has stated she will never do a franchise again.

‘The hours are insane,’ she added to the publication.

‘It’s years of your life, you have no control over where you’re filming, how long you’re filming, what you’re filming.’

Last year, Keira opened up about how she sought to broaden her career after her breakout role portraying Elizabeth Swann.

‘They were the most successful films I’ll ever be a part of,’ Keira said of the franchise 

Keira (center) appeared in the films alongside Johnny Depp (right) and Orlando (left)

‘She [Elizabeth Swann] was the object of everybody’s lust,’ she told Harpar’s Bazaar.

‘Not that she doesn’t have a lot of fight in her. But it was interesting coming from being really tomboyish to getting projected as quite the opposite. I felt very constrained. I felt very stuck.

‘So the roles afterwards were about trying to break out of that.

‘I didn’t have a sense of how to articulate it. It very much felt like I was caged in a thing I didn’t understand.’

Keira was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in the 2005 period piece Pride & Prejudice and also was an Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress for playing Joan Clarke in the 2014 film The Imitation Game.

Keira has been married since 2013 to British musician James Righton, 41, and they have daughters Edie, nine, and Delilah, five, together.