Keira Knightley has made a heartbreaking admission after starring in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.

The Oscar-nominated actor, 39, famously played Elizabeth Swann, a governor’s daughter who becomes a pirate leader.

She of course starred alongside Johnny Depp, who portrayed Captain Jack Sparrow, and Orlando Bloom, who starred as Will Turner, Elizabeth’s love interest and a blacksmith-turned-pirate. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Knightley featured in three of the films from 2003 to 2007 and has reflected on the problems that followed her.

She thinks she was ‘taken down so publicly’ for appearing in them, telling The Times in an interview: “It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time.

“I was seen as s**t 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].

“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.”

Because of her experience on Pirates, Knightley says she will never do a big movie franchise again.

“The hours are insane,” she added.

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

Throughout the years the fame really got to her, so much so that she underwent ‘many years of therapy’ to cope.

She told The Telegraph in 2019: “The fame that came with them I just couldn’t handle.

Keira Knightley starred alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (E. Charbonneau/WireImage for Disney Pictures)

“So looking back, would I do anything different? No, I wouldn’t because 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.”

The actor also said it was hard to shake off the Elizabeth Swann character, telling Harper’s Bazaar in 2023: “She [Elizabeth Swann] was the object of everybody’s lust.

“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.”

If you’re experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They’re open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you’re not comfortable talking on the phone.