Keira Knightley Talks Terrible Expectations for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’

Admit it: Although the future of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is completely up in the air, we all want one more. Although the announcement of Pirate’s 6 wouldn’t be enough to quench that unslakable thirst we have for future Johnny Depp projects at Disney, the top-rated film franchise that kickstarted in 2003 with The Curse of the Black Pearl would definitely help Disney get out of their current box office slump. Although Depp and his latest life troubles are typically the focus of news regarding a series reboot, plenty of other notable names are associated with the franchise, including Elizabeth Swann herself, actress Keira Knightley.

Credit: Disney

Knightley took the role alongside other big names like Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, and Jonathan Price, cementing her place among the fave franchise, starring in four of the five films. However, her career doesn’t begin or end with Pirates; one of Keira Knightley’s first roles was Queen Amidala’s body double in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). Other titles would follow, like King Arthur (2004), The Duchess (2008), and Collateral Beauty in 2014. Knightley and other cast members, such as Zoe Saldana, have recently been very outspoken about their time on the first Pirates of the Caribbean film set. Knightley, who was working with director Richard Curtis on Love Actually at the time, apparently wasn’t thrilled with her with her soon-to-be breakout role in Disney’s first Pirates film. In fact, she thought it would be a massive failure.

Credit: Disney

Of course, Keira Knightley was wrong, as Pirates of the Caribbean would go on to earn over $4 billion globally in total. Still, she was insistent from the beginning that she had made a mistake in taking the role alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, which Jerry Bruckheimer was directing. Curis told Fandomwire that Knightley felt the film would be terrible.

“With Keira, it was only her second film and I remember talking to her while we were shooting and asking her what she was doing next and she said, ‘Oh it’s going to be terrible and I’ve probably made a terrible mistake but I’m doing this pirates movie.'” – Richard Curtis.

Although Keira Knightley was incorrect in her assumption, she hasn’t been the only Pirates of the Caribbean actor to make speculation and accusations regarding the franchise’s early days. Zoe Saldana, who played a small role in the first film, went on record recently claiming that she wasn’t interested in a sequel after filming the first movie as her experience alongside Johnny Depp and others wasn’t “worth repeating.” In hindsight, it’s probably very difficult to understand why anyone on set would’ve thought Pirates of the Caribbean would fail, especially considering the immaculate performance that Johnny Depp gave as Captain Jack Sparrow. However, considering that this was Disney’s first real attempt at embodying one of their famous rides into film in a way that captures and immortalizes the essence of something that already held a hefty following, combined with the joky manner of the film, it’s understandable that its success could have been questionable. 

Credit: Disney

Luckily, hindsight is 20/20, and we now understand with whole brevity how impactful and successful Pirates of the Caribbean is. Although much of that success can be attributed to Depp’s amazing and iconic portrayal of Jack Sparrow, Bloom, Knightley, and others played a heavy role in creating something that remains in high demand 20 years later. Pirates of the Caribbean did its job at capturing that essential Disney magic that exists in the traditional ride, but it also has become part of the story itself, a part of the culture; Keira Knightley is responsible for that despite her initial thoughts that Pirates of the Caribbean would be a terrible failure.