Sexy Keira Knightley on the cover of the new issue of Interview. Sexy Keira Knightley on the cover of the new issue of Interview A candid interview with Keira
Englishwoman Keira Knightley- one of the outstanding actresses of her generation. In the April issue of Interview Magazine, she became the main character - a cover, a large and unusual photo shoot performed by fashion photography stars Marcus Piggot and Mert Alas, and a very unusual interview - director David Cronenberg, who shot Kira in his film "Dangerous" method,” I spoke with the 27-year-old actress, relaxing at home in London, after filming the role of Anna Karenina.
Kiera Knightley / Keira Knightley
photographers Mert & Marcus
Interview Magazine April 201201. 
David Cronenberg- How are you? Where are you?
Keira Knightley- I'm fine. In London. I just left someone in the kitchen to cook chicken curry, although I was going to help him, but I won’t anymore (laughs). Where are you?
DK- I'm in the office of my house in Toronto. You finished working in Anna Karenina, didn't you?
KN- We finished right before Christmas.
DK- Another Russian.
KN- Yes! I'm not entirely sure what the story is about. It seems that I am starting to feel Russians... Although, I have never even been to Russia.
DK- Me too. You didn't speak with a Russian accent when playing Anna, did you?
KN- No, although you told me that I should do it. I think you remember one time in Venice saying, "Go back to Joe (To Wright, director of the film "Anna Karenina" - note valse-boston), and talk like a Russian."
DK- Yes, I'm very glad that you didn't do that. I feel big influence from both of you: both you and Sabina (Spielrein - Keira Knightley's character in the film "A Dangerous Method"). I can't even think about you working with another director. I'm arrogantly guessing that on set you're secretly thinking, "Oh my God... David would have done it completely differently."
KN- I miss you all the time. (laughs)
02. 
DK- Is this version of Anna Karenina made like a big epic movie?
KN- In a sense, yes, but at the same time it turned out to be a very stylized, deeply theatrical work. In many ways, it's the opposite of A Dangerous Method, with its million different angles. They have completely different effects. Sabina and Anna are not alike, but there is a common idea that their way of thinking turns against them as a result. But actually, the way we made Anna Karenina is completely different from working on A Dangerous Method.
DK- Have you watched other films based on Anna Karenina?
KN- I watched several versions some time ago. One of them was on TV in England, with Elena McCrory as Anna, and she was amazing. I also saw the version with Greta Garbo, but that was a long time ago. I didn’t want to review it all before filming, and if somewhere I managed to do something similar to them, it was by accident, and not because I deliberately copied someone. But this is a very strange book... I don’t quite understand what Leo Tolstoy’s real attitude was towards Anna - whether he liked her or hated her, whether she was the hero of this novel or his anti-hero. At some points it seems like he despises her, but this is really a book about a woman who is, in some way, despised, so you have to play it without trying to make her too good, or oversimplifying everything, which is really very difficult. I think if you turn this into a melodrama, it won't be nearly as interesting as the original story.
DK- Someone might say: “Why does it even matter what Tolstoy’s point of view was?” By the way, one can imagine that Tolstoy was a director, and Anna was his actress. I once wrote a story myself. I started my career thinking I would become a writer.
KN- I didn’t know about this.
DK- Yeah. The strange thing is that I find this very similar to directing. You select the characters, dress them, light them, find the scene, decide what they will eat... So, thinking of Tolstoy as the director of his novel, and of you as his actress, try to understand how he relates to you applies. Has Joe Wright become Leo Tolstoy for you?
KN - (laughs) Yes, sure. I think the most important thing in trying to adapt such a book to film is to determine what Tolstoy thought about each of his characters. What is the purpose of each character? Should the character look good or bad? Is there a way that we can combine the good and the bad in this person because it will be more interesting? I think we constantly asked ourselves similar questions. So, yes, I suppose Joe did, in a sense, become Leo Tolstoy.
03. 
04. 
DK- So, you played two tragic roles of Russian women in a row, one of which was based on real events. Was there any difference for you in playing a completely fictional character versus a real historical figure?
KN- Yes, there are always moral questions when you play real person. Is there a good reason for doing this, or are you just exploiting someone's name? It's like dancing on someone's grave. I think it's much more fun to work on a fictional character. So many people identify with him. This way you don't take advantage of anyone or take the easy way out by judging them. Or, if you judge them, then do it in such a way that the person is judging himself, and not being judged from the outside. The nice thing about playing someone real is that there is more information about them, so many of the questions you would like to ask already have ready answers. Although, it was quite difficult to play Sabina, because there was not a lot of information about her.
DK- But there is much more information about Anna Karenina in a large book, which, in a strange way, makes Anna a more real person than most people like Sabina.
KN- If we talk about great fictional literary characters, and why they often turn into movie characters is because they speak and act like real people. They are as full of flaws as they are of heroism. I think the reason people love and hate them so much is because they always see themselves in them, like in a mirror. On a certain level, you can always understand them. Sometimes it's a scary, dark mirror. I think, in a way, that's what Anna is. I'm not sure people will feel the same way about Sabina.
05. 
06. 
DK- People who liked Sabina - and there are quite a lot of them - are very grateful, because they feel that she has returned to life.
KN- Absolutely. I may not have understood her very well, but she wrote in her diary: “My name was Sabina Spielrein” and “I, too, was once a human being.” These words were running through my head, a kind of fire that someone should have noticed. It helped me play her role because when many people recognize the name, they also recognize the story. I think Sabina has a very controversial character and I think it's great when people react that way.
DK- You know, I had a strange experience when my film Crash (1996) came out in England. The tabloid press went crazy for a year, attacking the film, calling it vicious and disgusting and "beyond depravity" - which was my favorite part. But you are constantly at the top of the English press. Do you think people there look at your work with clear eyes? Or do they only see the celebrity without really seeing your work?
KN- I really don't know... I don't really know what they really want... I know that in A Dangerous Method people liked the spanking scenes (laughs). Although I'm not entirely sure. It’s strange, by the way, when we were in Venice (at the Venice Film Festival - approx. valse-boston), I was not asked about this scene even once the entire time we were there.
DK- Me too.
KN- And then, in Toronto, I was asked about it a little more often. But in England, it happens really often, and it seems to be the only thing I'm ever asked about. I'm not entirely sure how this characterizes the English.
DK- Well, they probably like spanking. Perhaps this comes from the situations in private schools for boys. Having your bare bottom spanked is usually a kind of homoerotic experience in these types of schools... This is my interpretation of why spankings are really so interesting to the English.
KN- Really interesting. I’ll probably soon have to shoot back at journalists who want to ask questions on this topic.
07. 
08. 
DK- You have already starred in several very popular films, such as “Pirates of the Caribbean”. You know, I've never made a big Hollywood movie before. Do you think I could work in something like this?
KN- I think you could work anywhere. But I think when you get a big project, working on it becomes much more difficult than working on a personal project. I had a lot more fun filming A Dangerous Method because I was closer to the people I was working with. You feel everyone on a personal level, you feel like you are part of a single team. Large projects are more complex because the number of people working there is huge. But when working with you, serious questions constantly arise; decisions must always be made. In big studio films there are so many different people and bodies that every thought has to go through, so it's quite difficult to know what the final decision will be. It is always much easier when there is one person whose thoughts you follow.
DK- Well, a good dictatorship, I think this is what should be on the set. But Robert Pattinson, who's in the movie I just finished doing, Cosmopolis, said that after working on Twilight, he was surprised enough that I could make decisions on set, and that it was true. happened. But for me this is a common thing.
KN“I think quite often, when you have a lot of money and time, and you’re making a movie for a big studio, you don’t have to make final decisions on the fly. You can always go back and re-shoot the scene.
09. 
10. 
DK- Sometimes I wonder where the border is. Do you have fun working on something like Pirates, where the whole process is big tech? I don't think you're that passionate modern technologies... Or not?
KN- If I had to make a choice, it would be something like a performance, or, to generalize, a less technological work. When you work in a space where there is a lot of technology, it is very difficult to play your role because you have to do a lot of things over and over again, from different angles. This is actually what I would like to understand. I'm very interested in how to maintain high performance in a high-tech process.
DK- Well, in the end, you will just wear a suit that makes a digital picture of your movements, and the whole movie game will consist of this.
KN- I’ve already acted like this. Would you like to try this?
DK- You can believe it, I'll try (Kira laughs). After Anna Karenina, another film is coming out in which you starred.
KN- Yes, in June the film “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” is coming out - a film about the end of the world, oddly enough. I starred in it even before Anna Karenina. Steve Carell also stars in it.
DK- How it was?
KN- Well, Steve is absolutely amazing. I love his work in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). He has an incredible ability to be funny but also pretentious, like a crying clown. The movie has some comic moments, but it's about the end of the world, so obviously there's an apocalyptic feel to it, and it's not a comic book because everything dies... Otherwise, it's quite fun. (laughs)
DK- You just have a lot of other films, and other directors.
KN- This is true. Sorry. I cheat on you all the time.
DK- I know. Okay, maybe this will add some spice to our relationship. I made another movie after A Dangerous Method, so I guess we're both guilty.
KN- I know. You cheated on me. Open relationships are normal. I think it's okay.
11. 
Photographers: Mert Alas, Marcus Piggott
Style: Karl Templer
Place: London, March 2012
Text: David Cronenberg
Translation: valse-boston (the translation is far from perfect; I recommend everyone to read the original text on the journal’s website:
Anna Karenina was played in films by Samoilova and Plisetskaya, Garbo and Marceau, not to mention Vivien Leigh and Jacqueline Bisset. To get into this enviable company, Keira Knightley had to read Tolstoy's novel twice and come to terms with the fact that Russian women are special.
She is no stranger to difficult tricks - she climbs masts like a pirate and plays football like Beckham. In the film adaptation of the great Russian novel, the British actress will have to perform only one acrobatic sketch - jumping under a steam locomotive.
If successful, this will not be the end of the journey at all, but simply a transfer - from the conditionally second train to the unconditionally first one. From the echelon of stars to the echelon of world cinema superstars. , with whom Keira Knightley was not compared only by the lazy, convincingly proved that suicide on screen is the shortest path to the coveted Oscar. But “Black Swan,” with all due respect, is just a ticket to the ballet, and real cinema is always “The Arrival of a Train.” We already know what awaits Keira Knightley, what remains is to find out what awaits her?
Is it probably wrong to ask you, a girl who is just getting ready for her wedding, about your emotional similarities with Anna Karenina?
Why? Who among us has not experienced despair or unbearable pain, succumbing to passion, who has not committed actions with dire consequences? We are all subject to emotions that are not so easy to control. Why should I be an exception?
- It turns out that you also have “terrible heart secrets”?
I just want to say that I'm not perfect. And that I can also be two-faced, I know how to lie and I know what it’s like to cause pain to your loved ones. But I still try to become better and learn from my mistakes.
- Unlike your heroine...
Don't try to oppose us, this is a road to nowhere. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that even Tolstoy himself could not fully understand his feelings for this woman.
- Why do you think so?
In my opinion, at times he doesn’t just condemn Anna, he really hates her, portrays her as a kind of Babylonian harlot, a debauchee. Anna doesn't seem nice at all at such moments. And in other episodes, the author suddenly, unexpectedly, almost falls in love with his heroine and sympathizes with her very much.
- Which Anna was more interesting for you to play - the vicious or the helpless?
I tried to focus on Anna's character flaws, her weaknesses and mistakes, rather than portraying her as a gentle victim of circumstance.
- Kira, it’s not entirely clear: are you protecting this woman or are you trying to expose her?
Both. In general, it seems to me that the attitude of the author, director, and audience to this novel and to this character should be twofold. I first read Anna Karenina at eighteen and then perceived this novel as a story about a magnificent love between two very beautiful and unhappy people and really sympathized with the heroine. But when I re-read the book before filming, the impression was completely different. I saw incredible difficult woman, the dark side of her soul. And the love in this book no longer seemed so magical and fabulous to me; the love here was almost madness. This amazed me. It’s as if at 18 I read one novel, and at 27 I read a completely different one.
- You probably don’t often reread the books you loved in your youth.
I’ll say more: “Anna Karenina” is actually the only book that I read twice. Before this, I had never returned to material I had already covered.
- Do you read a lot in general? Which other Russian classics do you know?
Dostoevsky. His Crime and Punishment is truly depressing, truly depressing. Well, I know Tolstoy not only from Anna Karenina, I also read War and Peace.
- Many people consider this book far from funny.
Yes? And I damn well liked her, I really fell in love with her, honestly.
- Probably, “War and Peace” also helped you understand the role of Karenina?
And that too. It was important for me to understand how the secular society of Russia at that time was structured, because it largely shaped Anna’s character. And by the way, I didn’t limit myself to Tolstoy alone. Before filming, I also read the book “Natasha’s Dance” by British historian Orlando Figes about the cultural history of Russia at that time.
- So how is it? Did you manage to unravel the mystery of the Russian soul?
Oh, I wouldn’t like to talk about Russia without ever having visited this country. I have several Russian friends, they are excellent guys, but neither this knowledge nor the knowledge gleaned from books is enough to rant about such complex matters as the “mysterious Russian soul.”
- You overestimate us in advance, Kira.
No, I just really don’t know anything about the people who live in modern Russia. But I hope that now your amazing culture is valued in society more than in the 19th century. Back then, the aristocrats even preferred to speak French rather than their native Russian; they seemed to be ashamed of their origin. The French dictated absolutely everything to you: how to behave in society, what to read, what dresses to wear...
- Who, by the way, designed the dresses for your heroine? The British? Or the French?
Oh, the costume designer was the magnificent Jacqueline Durand, my fellow Briton. Thanks to her, the costumes in this film also play an important dramatic role.
IN exclusive interview"TV program" famous actress explained why she decided to play Anna Karenina and take a topless photo
In an exclusive interview with TV Program, the famous actress explained why she decided to play Anna Karenina and be photographed topless.
This fragile Englishwoman has been in star status for more than ten years, and yet she is not yet thirty. In addition to roles in many blockbusters, Kira managed to appear in serious dramas and receive a lot of prestigious awards and nominations. The actress also has a happy marriage and imminent motherhood (in December, Knightley confirmed that she was expecting a child).
And Kira began her quest for fame, success and family happiness, being just a baby. If you believe a popular story in the film world, at the age of three she demanded that her parents hire a professional agent.
“THE MAIN THING IN A WOMAN IS SELF-RESPECT”
- Is the story about the agent true?
- Absolute! (Laughs.) What else can you expect from an acting child when all the talk around is exclusively about engagements? The parents did not give up right away, they retreated step by step: okay, they say, we will allow you to work, but not in advertising. Okay, in advertising, but not in TV series. Okay, in TV series, but not in soap operas! And so they gave up one position after another in exchange for promises to study well.
- Done?
- Imagine! It turned out that I like to study. I adored the humanities, had a warm attitude towards the natural sciences, and only mathematics kept a respectful distance from me (smiles).
— And they ended up playing mathematician Joan Clark in The Imitation Game...
“So I played a pirate, although I never boarded a ship, and Queen Guinevere, having nothing to do with the ruling dynasty. It's such a profession.
— In “The Imitation Game,” your role is not at all romantic. You are a cryptanalyst from the team of the mathematical genius Alan Turing, who managed to unravel the German encryption codes during World War II...
mother says that I was born forty-five years old.
It's probably stupid to talk about this, but I never liked being a child. I wanted people to start taking me seriously as soon as possible.
I started filming when I was seven, and from the very first day I decided to save money for a house - I put the money in a jam jar. But I wanted an agent when I was three. I don’t remember this myself, but everyone around me says that it happened. I think I didn't really have any idea what agents were, it just seemed unfair that Mum and Dad had them and I didn't.
on my last birthday, When I turned 28, I thought: “Damn, this is called “becoming an adult.” And then I took a photo - I’m nine years old, sitting somewhere in denim overalls - and thought that I urgently need to buy the same one. And then someone gives me wings like a fairy. In general, I celebrated my 28th birthday in denim overalls with wings on the back - and I have never been so happy.
my parents had an agreement: for several years in a row - after my older brother was born - my mother wanted a second child, but my father (theater and television actor Will Knightley - Esquire) said that they could only allow it if my mother (Sharman Macdonald, a famous screenwriter - Esquire) will write and successfully sell a play. That’s how I was born, and my mother wrote “When I Was a Girl, I Cried and Screamed” - her first play.
I've walked the path from the eternal “she can’t act” to an Oscar nomination, and it seems to be great.
at all kinds of social events you can see me in the corner with a glass of champagne. Every time I feel very, very scared and uncomfortable, and I just stand there in the corner, quietly drink, smile meaninglessly and wait for it to finally be over. And I never know what I should say and to whom.
There are no individuals on the red carpet, and no matter how hard the photographers try, they are all very similar. That's why I adore Björk and her swan dress (which Björk wore to the 2001 Oscars - Esquire). But I don't have the courage to do that.
in some photographs I look like a prostitute - but an expensive prostitute, of course. The kind that only stays at the Ritz.
in magazines I've been called the messiest woman in Britain and I'm very proud of it because it's so true.
when I was ten, I dressed like Kurt Cobain. My brother and his friends loved Nirvana, and I had this crazy washed cardigan - striped, just like Cobain. I wore it every day, and when it finally went to the trash heap because it was so worn out, I cried as if I was burying a person.
I never think what to wear. The main thing is to wear clean clothes.
I always disappoint people who come to interview me. Obviously, everyone expects me to be much more beautiful in real life.
I don't think about a balanced diet. Just the thought of dieting makes me want chips or ice cream. And I don't go to the gym - I can't stand them.
I have no I have no idea how much I weigh. I don't even have a scale. But I noticed that when I talk about this, I terribly irritate those who cannot be called graceful.
I'm terribly lazy. The only exercise I do regularly is turning on the TV.
football - that's the only reason I have a TV at home. It’s complete nonsense to watch football on a laptop screen.
more than anything I like to walk. I know it sounds like complete bullshit, but that's the way I was born.
I can not even imagine, Is it possible to say that I am completely normal? The world around me is definitely not normal, but I try not to hurt others, and I try not to hurt myself. Perhaps this is the definition of normal.
Fine, that everyone thinks differently. It's more interesting to live this way.
to be an actor - means to be observant. You will have to come to a cafe and watch people for hours.
the most unexpected things in the world we learn about ourselves.
if I have dark side, I still haven't discovered it. Yes, I'm so boring.
nude shooting scares me but I'm ready for it if the script demands it. Or if I think it's funny.
On posters they always paint on my boobs. For “King Arthur” (2004 film - Esquire), they also painted on my boobs, but they turned out stupid and saggy. And I told them: “Guys, since you decided to draw my boobs on the computer, you could make them stick out just right.”
yes I have boobs but 50% of the inhabitants of this planet also have boobs. So let's not waste time talking about mine.
I firmly decided live your life in the best possible way of all possible. First of all, this means doing as few interviews as possible.
Yes, I'm wearing a ring. This is the only thing I can say about my personal life.
I've had enough of on-screen weddings. In the movies, I got married five times, and I have three children, plus countless marriage proposals - something like twenty.
I never ask from my fellow actresses, how they are doing, because I absolutely don’t want to know. This may sound a little childish, but I really don’t want to know anything about how and what they live with. After all, if I suddenly find out that they do a lot of crap in life, I will immediately become uninterested in watching them on the screen.
when there are too many men around you, You're about to grow a beard.
I'm always asked:“So you’re not kidding when you say you’re a feminist?” It's like, damn, everyone is just making fun of it.
if you want support a good relationship with your family, your man and your friends, you will have to spend all your time on the Internet with your phone in your hand.
they make me happy good books, good food and an evening with friends.
I hate karaoke. Damn, I just can't stand this fucking karaoke. I have to get so drunk that I can no longer stand without someone's help before I dare to sing in front of someone. Imagine: among those around me there are a lot of people who really sing beautifully, and then suddenly I pick up a microphone. It doesn't look any better than just telling them to "fuck you."
swearing is my main sin, but I get great pleasure from it. And this despite the fact that my mother swears very little, and my father does not swear at all.
I used to really love rage against the machine. It seems because they constantly swear in their songs.
"cute" - this is the worst word on earth.
I was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, so I don't read quickly. But I really love words. Quite strange, considering that they are so difficult for me.
life - It's not just about studying, studying, studying. Life is about learning and unlearning, learning and unlearning, and then learning again.
I never believed that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 due to the apocalypse. It seems to me that they simply had an undeveloped imagination, and they could not imagine what would happen later, after 2012.
I forget absolutely everything even faces. Another side of dyslexia, yeah.
What am I thinking about now? That very soon, this evening, we are meeting with friends for a drink. Gin always makes me cry, so I'll drink vodka.
when you don't know what to do - faint.
