The actor became the subject of tabloid fascination after the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise made her a global star<\/a> in 2003 at the age of 18.<\/p>\n Speaking in a new interview with The Times,<\/a> Knightley said of the intrusion: \u201cI went mad.\u201d She recalled the paparazzi abuse<\/a>, saying: \u201cIt was mostly \u2018wh***\u2019. \u2018Sl**\u2019 sometimes. Particularly if I was with someone \u2014 a boyfriend, my brother or my dad. They were trying to get a reaction out of them \u2014 provoking people into punching them, so they could sue. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd that was the time the crashes started happening \u2014 they were forcing people off the roads, then getting even bigger money for pictures of a crashed actress or whatever. And then Britney [Spears]<\/a> shaved her head so it was like, \u2018Great \u2014 we can push them into doing something f***ing crazy,\u2019\u201d she continued of the paparazzi.<\/p>\n Knightley said her own response was to start \u201cwearing the same clothes every day\u201d to reduce the value of any photographs taken of her, settling on a wardrobe consisting of \u201cthree pairs of the same jeans, stripy T-shirt, boots. <\/p>\n \u201cI gave all my other clothes away,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cAnd then, if I was being followed, I stopped walking. I\u2019d literally stand there. Stock still. One day, I stood there for five hours. \u2018If you\u2019re still there, I\u2019m not going. I\u2019m not going to move\u2019\u2026 it wasn\u2019t a valuable shot to them if it was always me in the same clothes, standing still. There\u2019s only so many times you can write, \u2018Ooh, she\u2019s wearing the same clothes,\u2019 with a photo of me standing still. It gets boring.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Keira](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2237365057-(1).jpg\")
Keira Knightley attending a London screening of ‘The Woman In Cabin 10’ on September 25, 2025 (Gareth Cattermole\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n