Keira Knightley on Elizabeth Bennet and P&P

Here are a compilation of Keira Knightley's interviews from various articles (compiled again by Liz. So credit and thanks, as always goes to her for finding them) relating to her Elizabeth Bennet role, Pride & Prejudice, book, movie, Jane Austen, co-stars Matthew Macfadyen, Talulah Riley, and more!


The first one was from Coming Soon.net. Keira talked about her character, her concerns about accepting the part, her fondest memory of the shoot and the on-screen chemistry with MM.

Keira Knightley: Runaway Pride
Source: Edward Douglas
November 8, 2005

CS: In many of the previous versions of "Pride & Prejudice", the movie belonged to the actor playing Mr. Darcy. In this one, the movie belongs to Lizzie. Any thoughts on that?

Keira Knightley: Well, that's good. When you read the book, the story is definitely told through Lizzie's eyes. That was one of the first things that Joe [Wright, director] said is that we really wanted this through Elizabeth's eyes, so you fall in love with Darcy as she does, so you hate him at the beginning and you gradually change your mind. So yes, I think that was a conscious thing. Also, if you've got two hours to tell a story--you have this BBC version that was 5 or 6 hours long to tell the same story--you have to make definite choices about whose eyes you're seeing it through. You could split it up in a five-hour version, but you have to be particular in a two-hour version. I guess they just decided to go along that route, as opposed to along the other one, and dare me to say that Elizabeth Bennett is meant to be Jane Austen, so it's kind of nice to say that I'm channeling Jane Austen, yeah. Read the full article here.

From Indie London:

Pride & Prejudice - It’s about growing up, about making mistakes, it’s about love and it’s about things that are as relevant today as then

KEIRA Knightley confesses to having been obsessed with Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride & Prejudice, from an early age - so being offered the role of Elizabeth Bennet was both a terrifying prospect and a dream come true.

"When I first got the part I had women coming over to me saying ‘you’re not Elizabeth Bennet, I am’," she explained, at a recent London press conference for the new film.

"I think that’s why the character is so loved, because everybody who loves the book is Elizabeth Bennet. Or she’s what you aspire to be, she’s funny, she’s witty and intelligent. She’s a fully rounded and very much loved character.

"So it’s terrifying to actually take her on. But equally because I’d been obsessed, I also believed that I was Elizabeth Bennet so I was the right person for it."

"As for the notion of being typecast, you’re not going to read a script that has a fantastic story, a fantastic character and a fantastic director and decide not to do it because it was set 200 years ago. That would be a bit foolish.


Read full article here.

From Chud.com (unfortunately, the full article is gone!):

INTERVIEW: KEIRA KNIGHTLEY (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE)
11.29.05
By Devin Faraci

Q: What's something you learned about yourself by playing Elizabeth?
Knightley: I'm not as clever as she is. I think Elizabeth Bennet is one of those characters that is everything that you want to be and everything that you are at the same time. She's so funny and witty and intelligent. She's the kind of person who says all of those put-downs that you walk away from situations wishing that you had said. But she's also really annoying and you want to kick her up the ass and shake her and say, 'Oh come on." That's what makes her really human. There are moments when, every single time I read the book I go, ‘Yeah, I get that!’ Embarrassing moments, where you think, ‘Oh mum, shut up!’ And it’s why I think the book has been so popular for so many years.

Knightley (on Darcy and and co-star Matthew Macfadyen): We did a lot of auditions with different Darcys, and they were all fantastic but there was that one thing or another that hadn't quite clicked. With Matthew, the first time we read it, we really clicked. It wasn't in the script or anything like that. It's just what naturally happened when we were playing the scene in the room.

Knightley (on co-star Talulah Riley): Are you kidding? That’s what it is. You come and you go, and it’s so quick. It’s hilarious – Tallulah Riley, she plays Mary Bennet in this film and she’s a good friend of mine. She was in a magazine the other day as the new Keira Knightley. Which is like, she’s a year younger than I am, man! Come on! I’m 20 and it’s over the hill! It’s awful!

But you know what, if there is a new Keira Knightley, I hope she’s it.

And last, but not least...

From an Interview with Keira Knightley (from LA Times)...

The Oscars: The Actors in Their Own Words
"I did the scene with all of the guys who were up for Darcy, because I was cast before we found Mr. Darcy," the actress says. "It wasn't in the script at all. But as we (Keira with Matthew) were doing the scene, it just so happened that it felt right to do, right at the end. So we went through the scene, and we did it really, really quickly. We were literally in each other's faces. And then we both went in for a kiss, and went out. There was complete silence in the room. And he was cast straight after that."

"I watch it now, and I can pick it apart completely," Knightley says of her "Pride" scene with Macfadyen. "The way I speak, the way I look, the way I move, anything."

"You can't ask for a better part than Elizabeth Bennet," she says. "So if you give an actress who is even remotely good the chance to play a fantastic character like that, they are going to revel in it. They really are."