By Christina Radish
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Keira Knightley at the premiere of "Atonement" held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif. on December 6, 2007.
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Adapted from the best-selling 2002 novel, the Focus Features film Atonement spans several decades, as it tells its tale about the power of enduring love. In 1935, 13-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) and her family live a life of wealth and privilege in their enormous mansion. Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), the educated son of the family’s housekeeper, carries a torch for Briony’s headstrong older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley). But, when their relationship combusts, Briony, who has a crush on Robbie, is compelled to interfere, going so far as accusing Robbie of a crime he did not commit. Cecilia and Robbie declare their love for each other, but he is arrested, with Briony bearing false witness, and the course of three lives is changed forever.
British born Keira Knightley, best known for playing Elizabeth Swann in the hugely successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine about making period dramas, working with rising star James McAvoy and learning to ignore the ever-present paparazzi.
MediaBlvd Magazine> What was it like working with Joe Wright (who also directed Knightley in Pride and Prejudice) again?
Keira Knightley> Fantastic. It was really good. I find him a very exciting filmmaker. He’s completely passionate and totally obsessed by what he does. What he really invites is creative collaboration, and he creates a company to work in, so he empowers every single person on the set. That’s conducive to good filmmaking and a very exciting experience.
MediaBlvd> What are the challenges of filming on location when you’re a big movie star? Do things like the paparazzi interfere with the work?
Keira> No. That’s my job. We were on a private estate, so we didn’t have any problems with paparazzi at all while we were shooting at the house, which was good. And then, we did have it in London, but we had security guards. As long as it’s relatively out of my eye line, it’s fine. When you’re on set, everybody’s so involved with what they’re doing that any amount of bullshit could be going on around you and you wouldn’t particularly notice it, as long as you’re working hard enough. So, it’s not really a problem. I like location work a lot. There’s a sense about the space, particularly working in a house like that. You just get an idea of exactly what those rooms are like, exactly how hot or cold it is, on a normal day, and where certain rooms relate to others, and that’s actually incredibly helpful to hold in your head. The space of the grounds around you, and knowing exactly how the grounds connect to the house, and all the rest of it, I found incredibly helpful.
MediaBlvd> This is such an iconic performance, when you look at the history of cinema. Did you know it would be like that, when you read the script?
Keira> No, that’s not why you make a film. You don’t think, “Oh, I’m doing an iconic film.” But, it was an incredibly well written script and incredibly well written characters, both from the script and, obviously, from the book. It’s very difficult to find good characters in films, particularly female characters. There aren’t that many. So, what you often try to do is really take something out of the page that certainly isn’t written on it. With this, it was very much there, in the book and in the script, and so, I was incredibly lucky to get the part. Quite often, you have characters that are very black or white. They’re good or they’re bad. And, these ones aren’t. They’ve got layers to them. I think that she is a good person, but she’s just behaving badly. She’s got very obvious flaws in her personality that are not particularly nice traits, but that still doesn’t mean that she’s a bad person. It’s always interesting to look at the flaws because that’s what makes characters, and people, interesting. You want to have negative aspects, so that you can look at the positive as well. She’s a fascinating character.
MediaBlvd> Do you have to adjust your process on a smaller, intimate movie like this, as opposed to a big-budget studio blockbuster like Pirates?
Keira> You adjust your speed. You have less time to do things, which I actually like. You do something like Pirates, which is obviously technical -- it’s about explosions and action -- and that, as everybody will tell you, takes a long time to get right. When you’re doing something like Atonement, you have less time to do it. You have less money, so you have to do it quicker. But, it’s a much more intense working experience, which for any actor, is what you’re looking for because you want to be living in that moment. It’s about the excitement of finding those emotions. On your big, explosive films, the film set is quite a technical space, as it should be. But, on a film like Atonement, the space was very much the actors’, which was absolutely enjoyable.
MediaBlvd> A lot of the film is very silent, and is conveyed through looks. What goes through your mind, when you film those type of scenes?
Keira> The book was incredibly helpful, in making this film. What Ian McEwan does brilliantly are these incredible internal monologues for each of the characters, which I think might have had something to do with why people always said that this is an unfilmable novel. But, as far as playing it, it was incredibly helpful because it constantly meant that you knew exactly where your character was coming from. If they were behaving badly, as mine sort of is, at the beginning of the film, you understand why. You understand why they’re slightly on edge and why they make decisions that, perhaps, aren’t the right decisions.
MediaBlvd> What was the most difficult scene for you to shoot on this film? And, what was your favorite scene?
Keira> There isn’t one scene that springs to mind, when I think of difficult. I think the whole thing was challenging, but then that’s what I want to get from work. I want to be challenged. The one that I found most challenging was the scene in the Swallows Tea Shop, when Robbie and Cecilia haven’t seen each other for five years, and they see each other again. And, that’s also my favorite scene. If you did that in a modern day piece, they’d be able to say exactly what they wanted to say to each other. It would all come out, and it would be rather melodramatic. The fact that they can’t find the words, and they can’t speak to each other, even though they’ve been writing all the time, and she’s sacrificed so much, and he’s been in jail, it suddenly becomes a physical thing between them, and they s realize that they don’t know each other anymore. It was always my favorite scene, when I read the script, but it was difficult because you have to know the emotions that they would be going through, even though you can’t play them. It was a really interesting exercise in keeping the lid on everything, which I have to say the whole film was. It’s all about what isn’t said.
MediaBlvd> Were there a lot of scenes that were cut out of the film?
Keira> There was certainly quite a big difference in the film, between the first cut that I saw and the final cut. It was really good when I first saw it. It had bits of music, but it wasn’t fully scored and we hadn’t done the sound for it, but it was still a good film. But, nobody cried. You came out and you felt like you had been fucking punched in the stomach, but you didn’t cry. And then, I went back to see the final thing and people were crying, pretty much from that moment in the Swallows Tea Shop until the end of the movie. It’s incredible how one cut can make the difference between a good film and something that really is tight and really works. It was just Joe going, “Wait a minute, I think there’s something else.” And, a lot of it had to do with the ending. We actually went back and did a re-shoot, and shot the ending that’s on it now, and I think that helped a lot, to bring out the full tragedy. I think that’s very powerful. So, there were bits and pieces that were altered, but not hugely, though it made a hell of a difference.
MediaBlvd> How was it to work with James McAvoy?
Keira> He’s extraordinary. He came in to audition for the part, along with some really great British actors, who were really top notch. And, everybody read it wonderfully. And then, James came in. Joe was very specific about the physical type that he wanted for the role. We’d talked about James before, and I knew his work and thought he was sensational, but physically, it wasn’t what Joe had described to me. So, James came in and I’ve never seen a screen test like it. He grew to 6'6". He just morphed. And, when he left the room, we were completely silent for about 10 minutes afterwards, and just went, “Right, well, that’s him.”
MediaBlvd> You’ve played so many strong women. How much of yourself do you draw upon for those roles?
Keira> I never draw from personal experience. I draw from imagination. We all have the same core emotions, and what interests me is trying to get into the heads of these characters. We all have the same emotions, but everyone uses them in slightly different ways, so I wonder why this person would react to this situation, in this way, but I don’t draw from myself. It is purely imagination, really.
MediaBlvd> How was it to grow up in a show business family, and how did that affect your decision to become an actress?
Keira> Show business is not particularly a word that I like. I lived with a playwright and an actor. I think it was amazing. I very definitely grew up around stories, art and people that really believed that they could make a difference through their art form, which is a very exciting thing to see, as a child. I’ve never grown up with anything else, so I don’t know what it’s like to grow up with other parents. I’m very close to mine.
MediaBlvd> Can you talk a little bit about your upcoming projects?
Keira> I have a film coming out next year, called The Edge of Love, which is again set in the second World War, but is in a very different social stratosphere. It’s based around a friendship group that surrounded Dylan Thomas, and an act of violence that happens, and the events that lead up to that act of violence. It’s a four-hander, really, with Cillian Murphy, Matthew Rhys, Sienna Miller and me, which should be good. It was written by my mom (Sharman Macdonald), so that was very exciting. It’s a very small budget piece, so it was a very intense shoot. I think we had seven weeks to do it, which in film terms is definitely not a lot of time. So, it was a very exciting project to work on. And then, I just finished a film called The Duchess, which is about the Duchess of Devonshire, who was a political hostess for the Whig party in the 1780's. That’s with Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling, and it’s about a marriage that goes wrong. It’s about the workings of a marriage, and society at that time.
MediaBlvd> When a script is written by your mom, how careful do you have to be with the words?
Keira> What she does is dialogue, and it’s very stylized and rhythmic dialogue. Very often, on film, you can change the words and play around with it. She’s predominantly a playwright. You don’t do the same things with playwrights. So, unless you could find a word that fit into the rhythmic form that she writes in, you can’t change it because otherwise it messes up all of the beats. So, there were basically no dialogue changes.
MediaBlvd> Are you especially drawn to period pieces?
Keira> At the moment, it simply has been that the stories that have interested me most have been set in the past. I’m not going to read an amazing piece, set 200 years ago, and go, “Oh, I can’t do that because I’ll be in a period piece.” I’m very selfish about my choices. I’m in an incredibly lucky position where I can actually choose what I do, and it has to be something that interests me. If it doesn’t interest me, then I’m not going to be interesting in it, and it won’t be interesting to watch, so there’s absolutely no point. So, it just has happened that the stories have been set in the past. There’s been no plan. I don’t have a plan. Hopefully, there will be a contemporary piece soon. I just need to find the right script.
MediaBlvd> You’ve had a bit of a hiatus from the big-budget Hollywood studio machine. Can you see yourself going back into that?
Keira> Yeah, of course. I hope so, if there’s something that interests me. It would be very savvy and business wise, of me to go, “I’m going to do this, and then I’m going to do a big film.” But, I can’t think like that. It has to be what interests me, at the time. I think there is a brilliant place for entertainment for entertainment’s sake. It’s completely wonderful to go to the cinema and see a complete ride and enjoy your popcorn and have a great time. And, when I’m in the mood, I will find a script and that’s exactly what I’ll do. I think it is partly because Pirates did take such a long time, and I was within that for so long, I’ve just craved something that’s different. For me, the point of acting has been to change, as much as possible, and I’ve been very fortunate to be able to do that. So, hopefully, I’ll find something fun and ridiculous and explosive, and I’ll enjoy doing it. But, I just haven’t found it yet.
MediaBlvd> What have you done to overcome your dyslexia?
Keira> I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was six, but I was never statemented. Statementing happens when you’re 11, and when I was 11, they decided that I was fine. I think that had a lot to do with acting. My headmaster, at the time, said to my parents, “You need to find a carrot to dangle in front of her to make her work harder,” and the carrot they found was an agent and the promise that I could go for auditions if I kept my grades up. And, that seemed to work.
MediaBlvd> What the holidays coming up, what Christmas traditions are you looking forward to celebrating?
Keira> I don’t do Christmas traditions. I’m going to sleep, eat and drink, and that’s about it.
