ISLAMABAD: As Pride & Prejudice celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, British actor Keira Knightley reflects on how the iconic role of Elizabeth Bennet transformed her career and public image.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Knightley opened up about her early struggles with criticism despite commercial success. Before the 2005 Jane Austen adaptation — which earned her an Academy Award nomination at just 20 — Knightley felt that many viewed her as a “terrible actress.”
“Pirates of the Caribbean had already come out, but I think in the public consciousness, I was seen as a terrible actress,” she admitted. Though Pirates was a massive success, Knightley said Pride & Prejudice was the first film that achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success for her.
She also contrasted the acclaim for Pride & Prejudice with the negative reviews she received for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which released around the same time. “I got the worst reviews ever for that, and then also being nominated for an Oscar at the same time — it was, in my 21-year-old head, quite confusing,” Knightley recalled.
Looking back on her debut in Bend It Like Beckham at age 17, Knightley shared how the negative voices of self-doubt were the loudest during her youth. “All those voices of self-doubt are so loud when you are in your teens or 20s,” she said. “But in an adult brain that’s got a lot of experience, you can kind of go, ‘You know what? It’s okay.’”
The actor previously described 2005 as a pivotal “making and breaking” year in her career, telling The Times: “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 a very confused place in my head.”
Today, Pride & Prejudice remains a beloved classic, with Knightley’s portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet seen as both a redemptive and defining moment that elevated her stature in Hollywood.
