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Keira Knightly was just a teenager when she landed roles in films like Pirates of the Caribbean, Bend It like Beckham and Love, Actually, and while the films helped "set [her] up for life," it came at a high personal cost.
In a new interview with The Los Angeles Times published Thursday (December 5), Knightley opened up about some of the harmful and even scary aspects of fame she experienced after starring in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Love, Actually when she was only 17 years old, per E! News. She said her "jaw dropped" with the treatment she received from the media in the early 2000s amid the increased attention, making it "very clear" how "absolutely shocking" and not OK it was that she wasn't protected.
"There was an amount of gaslighting to be told by a load of men that 'you wanted this,'" she said. "It was rape speak. You know, 'This is what you deserve.' It was a very violent, misogynistic atmosphere."
The Pride & Prejudice star continued, "They very specifically mean I wanted to be stalked by men. Whether that was stalking because somebody was mentally ill, or because people were earning money from it — it felt the same to me. It was a brutal time to be a young woman in the public eye."
Though her privacy was taken away at a young age and placed under intense public scrutiny, Knightly acknowledged that the roles helped set her up for success as she got older, People reports.
"Having said that, I wouldn't have the financial stability or the career that I do now without that period," she said. "I had a five-year period between the age of 17 and 21-ish, and I'm never going to have that kind of success again. It totally set me up for life. Did it come at a cost? Yes, it did."