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Forget the Guinevere you think you know, the mythic queen of Camelot breaking hearts in a flowing gown. Keira Knightley plays the legendary love of King Arthur and Lancelot as a sword-swinging warrior in chainmail and face paint. The boys-club-crashing star of "Bend It Like Beckham" told MTV News' Kelly Marino about training for "King Arthur," doing her own stunt work and finding romance in battle.
MTV: In the past, many adaptations of the King Arthur story have focused on the love triangle between Guinevere, Arthur and Lancelot. This "King Arthur" focuses on the fighting, the people and freedom. Was there ever a time that you wanted to incorporate more of the love story?
Keira Knightley: To tell you the truth, I think that every other film of the myths and legends of King Arthur has totally focused on that famous love triangle. So we've kind of seen it and it's been done. That's great, and I'm a sucker for romance as well. If you want that, then there are millions of other things out there where you can go and see that.
If you want something a bit different, yeah, this film does focus on the action. For me, I still do think it is pretty romantic because there is, in the middle of all of these battles and everything else, a very intimate scene between Arthur and Guinevere. Although it does not focus on the love triangle including Lancelot, it is suggested. It is there slightly, but certainly it is not the focus of the film.
MTV: What about the training process, and the fight scenes? You obviously had to work out for this film.
Knightley: Yeah, we all did about three months' training before the film started. For me that meant a lot of weightlifting to get my muscles up because I didn't have any. Boxing, knife fighting, sword fighting, axe fighting, archery — horse riding as well, but I never got to ride a horse, which I was a bit annoyed about.
When we were filming, we had personal trainers on set the whole time. So when we weren't filming, we were in the gym, just trying to keep it all up. Physically, it was really demanding, but it was great. I really loved it.
MTV: Did you do all of your stunts in the movie?
Knightley: I did. I did all of my own stunts. When I started, I really wanted to do as much as possible, but it just so happened I had 3 weeks off before the major battle scene was filmed. So I had a fantastic stunt girl called Kelly, and she took me through all the fight scenes step by step. And she just said, "Listen, we'll see how much she can do at the end of it." And I did all of it, so it was great.
MTV: Have you known since you were a kid that acting is something you want to do?
Knightley: Yeah, very much so. I think I asked for an agent when I was three. I don't remember, obviously, but that is what I was told. I got one when I was 6.
So, yeah. I have never wanted to do anything else, which I don't necessarily think is a good thing. I think that is actually pretty sad of me, but hopefully I will grow up one day and get a proper job. Until then, I am quite happy being on film sets.
MTV: Your career has skyrocketed in the past two to three years. Are you enjoying this to the fullest, or do you wish sometimes that you could go back to normal?
Knightley: This is very much the career that gets blown up and blown down in a second, so I think you have to enjoy this while it lasts and move on when it goes, which is cool.
As far as all the rest of it, my group of friends, most of them aren't in the industry. So I just go back and they're talking about university, and that is great. I think that is how I want to keep it.
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Photo: Buena Vista
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