Keira Knightley has made a heartbreaking admission after starring in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
The Oscar-nominated actor, 39, famously played Elizabeth Swann, a governor's daughter who becomes a pirate leader.
She of course starred alongside Johnny Depp, who portrayed Captain Jack Sparrow, and Orlando Bloom, who starred as Will Turner, Elizabeth’s love interest and a blacksmith-turned-pirate.
Knightley featured in three of the films from 2003 to 2007 and has reflected on the problems that followed her.
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She thinks she was 'taken down so publicly' for appearing in them, telling The Times in an interview: "It's a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time.
"I was seen as s**t because of them, and yet because they did so well I was given the opportunity to do the films that I ended up getting Oscar nominations for [Pride & Prejudice and The Imitation Game].
"They were the most successful films I'll ever be a part of and they were the reason that I was taken down publicly.
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"So, they're in a very confused place in my head."
Because of her experience on Pirates, Knightley says she will never do a big movie franchise again.
"The hours are insane," she added.
"It's years of your life, you have no control over where you're filming, how long you're filming, what you're filming."
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Throughout the years the fame really got to her, so much so that she underwent 'many years of therapy' to cope.
She told The Telegraph in 2019: "The fame that came with them I just couldn’t handle.
"So looking back, would I do anything different? No, I wouldn’t because I’m unbelievably lucky now, and my career is in a place where I really enjoy it, and I have a level of fame that’s much less intense."
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The actor also said it was hard to shake off the Elizabeth Swann character, telling Harper's Bazaar in 2023: "She [Elizabeth Swann] was the object of everybody's lust.
"Not that she doesn't have a lot of fight in her. But it was interesting coming from being really tomboyish to getting projected as quite the opposite. I felt very constrained. I felt very stuck.
"So the roles afterwards were about trying to break out of that.
"I didn't have a sense of how to articulate it. It very much felt like I was caged in a thing I didn't understand."
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If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.
Anish Vij