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Keira Knightley: ‘Motherhood has changed me as an actress’

Becoming a mother has transformed Keira Knightley’s approach to acting.

Keira, 33, gave birth to her daughter Edie back in 2015 with husband James Righton, but has managed to keep up a hectic work schedule. Her recent work includes a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, the acclaimed period drama Colette and Disney’s Christmas flick The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.

Speaking to WENN/Cover Media about her latest film, The Aftermath, in which she plays a mother in mourning who is forced to move with her soldier husband to oversee the reconstruction of post-war Germany, Keira said being a mum has changed her as an actress.

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“I think it’s impossible not to empathise with this character whether you are or not,” she explained at the movie’s London premiere on Monday (18Feb19). “But my view of the world and the way that I play characters and the way that I see characters is different, because motherhood pretty much changes you fundamentally. So you can’t not see the world differently and therefore see the characters differently.”

However, she won’t allow motherhood to dictate her choice of roles, adding that she is still intent on taking parts “primarily for myself” rather than starring in films she thinks her daughter may enjoy when she grows up.

Last year the star wrote a powerful essay about motherhood for an anthology titled Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and Other Lies). In the candid piece, titled The Weaker Sex, the star wrote about the traumatic pain of giving birth to Edie.

“I remember the s**t, the vomit, the blood, the stitches,” she mused. “I remember my battleground. Your battleground and life pulsating. Surviving. And I am the weaker sex? You are?”
The Aftermath, which stars Jason Clarke as Keira’s soldier husband, and Alexander Skarsgard as a German architect whose house they must share, debuts in cinemas next month.

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