Keira Knightley needs to have a “really nice time” after filming dark roles. The Dangerous Method actress doesn’t find acting particularly theraputic, and admits she needs to properly relax at the end of a day’s work in order to stop her roles making her upset. She said: “A lot of people say that acting is like therapy, but I don’t go for that. “It’s not my cup of tea, it is for some people, but not me. I do, however, find it incredibly cathartic and when you’re playing something so dark you want to have a really nice time afterwards, otherwise it’s far too depressing.” The 26-year-old actress – who is in a relationship with Klaxons rocker James Righton – also admitted that her fame has changed her, but she thinks it would be “sad” if she remained the person she was at the beginning of her career. She added in an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “Yes, I was different then to the way I am now because you change with your experiences. It would be sad if you didn’t, but my level of fame is not as big as Brad Pitt’s thankfully.”

Source: Contactmusic

Keira Knightley was left a nervous wreck on the set of new movie A Dangerous Method when she plastered her trailer with grotesque and disturbing images of humans in turmoil. The British actress plays mental patient-turned-psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein in the upcoming drama, and she put herself through extreme preparations for the role. She decided to surround herself with pictures of distorted and screaming humans from the work of famed artist Francis Bacon – and admits it was a deliberate move to unnerve herself as she’s been terrified of Bacon’s images since she was a child. Knightley tells Culture magazine, “Honestly, it was terrifying. I covered my entire trailer on set with these pictures, which were so animalistic, almost demonic, especially the studies for the Crucifixion. “My mum took me to an exhibition of his work when I was really little and I just remember how claustrophobic and completely terrified I was. I hated it. And now I’m scarred for ever.” But the Pirates of the Caribbean star is adamant being surrounded by Bacon’s most disturbing images helped her perfect her role, adding, “(It worked) because for me the work depicts madness. And I always think of Francis Bacon when I think about someone who is in that sort of place.”

Source: Contactmusic

Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender downed vodka shots before shooting scenes for A Dangerous Method. The pair star as Sabina Spielrein and her therapist Carl Jung in the David Cronenberg movie and Keira, 26, admitted they got through the more uncomfortable scenes – which include Michael spanking her – by turning to alcohol. Keira told Culture magazine: “We only had one or two shots maximum. It was a vodka shot to calm our nerves and away you go really. Then we had champagne. We drank quite a lot of champagne actually. You can count on Michael to buy a bottle of champagne when one is required. The vodka and champagne is a good combination.” Keira also revealed she now only chooses roles that challenge her and she loves to be frightened by her movies. She added: “I think all the work I have done over the past five years has looked for the thing that really frightens me – the thing that I really don’t know how to do. I think it is for selfish reasons. If you manage to do something that is a big challenge, you get a hell of a lot out of it, regardless of whether the end product works or not.”

Source: Contactmusic

Keira Knightley is set to star in a rival biopic to Emma Thompson’s film on Euphemia ‘Effie’ Gray. Although Emma is currently shooting the project ‘Effie’ which she wrote starring Dakota Fanning and based on the marriage of the teenager and critic John Ruskin in Victorian London, Keira has now signed up for ‘Untouched’ which will tell the same story. ‘House Of Sand’s Andrucha Waddington will direct the movie based on a script from Aleksandra Crapanzano which will tell how Effie escaped from her loveless marriage to divorce Ruskin and eventually marry his protege, John Everett Millais. Although Effie was a striking beauty, John never consummated the marriage because he was disgusted with her body. It is unclear who will play Ruskin and Millais opposite Keira in ‘Untouched’. Greg Wise and Tom Sturridge are starring in ‘Effie’ with Richard Laxton directing the film which will also star Emma as Lady Eastlake, who assists Effie when it becomes clear she is being destroyed by her marriage.

Source: Contactmusic

Keira Knightley’s shocking new role in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method was originally written for Julia Roberts. The British beauty plays a Russian woman named Sabina who has severe psychological issues and comes between famed psychiatrists Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. The script is based on Christopher Hampton’s 2002 play The Talking Cure. Knightley recently admitted she almost turned down the role because of its kinky spanking scene, and now it’s been revealed the part was initially penned for romantic comedy queen Roberts. Cronenberg says, “(Hampton) had written a screenplay for Julia Roberts called ‘Sabina’ and it was for Fox. I think that was 17 years ago and it didn’t happen for whatever reason, and he then asked them if he could have the permission to make a play out of it, so it was really a screenplay first and it was based on many things.”

Source: Contactmusic