Hollywood star Keira Knightley has revealed that she has only watched the Christmas classic Love Actually once and cannot recall any of her lines from the film. She finds it “weird” to see herself on screen, which is why she avoids revisiting the festive favorite.
The 40-year-old actress, who portrayed Juliet in the beloved 2003 rom-com, shared her thoughts during an appearance on the Dish from Waitrose podcast. She stated, “I have [only seen it once], yeah, if you’re in it. I mean, it would be weird if – I was watching my own, yeah. I’ve seen it once.”
Knightley further explained her struggle to quote lines from the Richard Curtis film, attributing it to a “delete button” in her head that makes her forget the scenes she has acted in.
“When somebody wanted me to say [a line from the film], I hadn’t seen it. So, I was like, I don’t know what you’re talking about! I realized that there are whole languages that are going on. It’s actually quoting me, but I don’t realize that,” she said.
She elaborated on her forgetfulness, saying, “That’s the problem. I’ve definitely got a delete button in my head for every single line that I’ve ever said in any film that I’ve ever done. Literally, as soon as I’ve done the scene, it’s gone. Even if I had to redo the scene, I’d have to relearn it.”
Knightley also noted the strange reactions she receives when fans quote her lines. “So when people kind of come over and they get a very particular look on their face when they’re obviously quoting me, I get the look, but I have no idea what the line is,” she admitted.
The daughter of actor Will Knightley and playwright Sharman Macdonald, Keira shared how her parents supported her desire to act despite her dyslexia.
She recalled, “Apparently, I was three when I first asked for my agent. My mum is a writer and she was an actress and my dad was an actor. So I think there were agents always crying in the house. And then I was like, well, I want one. Why’s everyone else got an agent? I don’t have an agent.”
She explained how her dyslexia influenced her parents’ decision: “I couldn’t read at all. And they said, you need a carrot to dangle in front of her. What does she want? And they said, she wants an agent. And they were like okay, well, get her one. And then basically, I was allowed to act.”
Keira emphasized that she had to improve her school work to pursue acting: “I was only allowed to go up for parts if my school work improved. So I had to practice reading every single day, and it was literally dangled in front of me. And if it ever dropped, then I wasn’t allowed to audition and I wasn’t allowed to play roles.”