Keira Knightley: The actress wants to promote women in the film industry
Photo: MARK BLINCH / REUTERS
Keira Knightley spoke on a podcast about why she is asking for a nude scenes clause in her contracts - and how her self-image has changed since her first big hits.
"Those horrible sex scenes where everyone is oiled up and grunting - I'm not interested in them," said the actress in a recent episode of the podcast "Chanel Connects," in which she shared her experience as a woman with writer Diane Solway and director Lulu Wang Filmbusiness spoke.
She fully understands that intimate scenes could add artistic value to a film, but she would no longer play such parts, says Knightley.
For some time now, she has had a clause in her contract that excludes nude scenes.
"I just don't want to stand naked in front of a group of men anymore"
That only has a small part to do with the fact that she has now given birth to two children.
She was a little vain, said Knightley, but mostly she just got fed up with the so-called "male gaze," that is, the male view of the world - and especially women -
"I just don't want to stand naked in front of a group of men anymore."
Under certain conditions, however, she would still be willing to show her body in the sense of art, said Knightley, but "to be honest, that would have to be with a woman as a director" who understood and could express the female perspective.
At the beginning of her career, she never stood up if she felt uncomfortable on the set, according to Knightley.
She was too young and didn't feel that her opinion was important.
Keira Knightley had her breakthrough with the film "Kick it like Beckham", followed by the first part of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series.
Knightley was just 17 years old on both shoots.
"I was aware at the time that I was still learning my trade," said the now 35-year-old on the podcast.
"But if you have to do that in public, it's really brutal." She kept hearing about herself that she was only famous for her looks.
At the same time, she was followed every day by a horde of paparazzi.
"When I left the house, 30 men with cameras in their hands yelled at me that I was a slut because a photo that made me cry is worth more." Today she is proud to have survived that time.
The misogyne treatment of women, especially in the entertainment industry, particularly shocked her at the time because she could not have imagined something like that before.
"My mother was a feminist, she was very careful about what I watched as a kid," Knightley said.
So she grew up with films with researching, self-confident female roles.
When she got into the film business herself, she thought: "Yikes, where are all these women?"
At first, however, she bowed to this system and did as she was told when filming.
Today, however, it no longer does so, according to Knightley.
"I'm now playing the roles I dreamed of as a child: interesting, diverse women who are complicated and break rules." She is also thinking about producing films herself in the future to further promote women and female perspectives .
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