(PCM) Keira Knightley is known for donning corsets in period dramas and winning over the hearts of her suitors in romantic comedies.
Now, the 29-year-old leading lady has something new to offer – a singing voice that is turning heads. In fact, the film’s soundtrack was recently released and it is already sought after by both film and music lovers.
During a recent chat on a hot and humid summer day in Manhattan, Knightley was upbeat, bubbly, laughing, and thoughtful, when she talked about getting into character, chilling out, singing lessons, romance, her co-stars, and more.
Knightley was picture perfect in a powder blue and gray pleated dress with a full skirt and Peter Pan collar, and three-inch silver stilettos. Her hair was braided and piled on top of her head in a bun. Her make-up and wine lips showed off her flawless complexion.
Her latest movie, Begin Again, from The Weinstein Company, is a touching comedy about what happens when lost souls meet and make beautiful music together.
Here is the story: Knightley’s character Gretta and her long-time boyfriend, Dave, (Adam Levine), are college sweethearts and songwriting partners, who come to New York when he lands a deal with a major music label.
The trappings of new-found fame tempt Dave to stray, and a lovelorn Gretta is left on her own with her heartbreak. Soon after she meets Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a disgraced record label executive, who stumbles upon her performing and is immediately captivated by her raw talent.
From this chance encounter the two forge a musical collaboration, set to the soundtrack of summer in New York City that transforms their lives in miraculous ways.
She is best known for her tomboy football role in Bend it Like Beckham, and for her many period films, including Pride & Prejudice, The Duchess and Atonement. Other roles for this fresh-faced actress include Love, Actually, Pirates of the Caribbean, Seeking a Friend for The End of the World, and Atonement.
Not only is her film career soaring, Knightley, has also found a soul-mate for the beginning of her new life. She is basking in the glow of her recent marriage to British indie musician James Righton, the keyboard player for the British band The Klaxtons. The happy young couple makes their home in East London.
Her co-stars and director [John Carney] found her to be irresistible on and off screen. “Keira is fantastic,” said Mark Ruffalo, best known for his diverse roles in such films as The Kids Are All Right. “She is fun and game for anything; and she is a talented singer.”
While Knightley is best known for her costume dramas and period films, she embraced the character of Gretta immediately.
How did you relate to Gretta for your role in Begin Again?
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY: My character has pretty much died in everything I’ve done for the last five years [she joked]. I decided I’d like to do something where I didn’t have to go through heavy emotional turmoil and die, if at all possible.
Well at least you didn’t die in your new movie.
KK: No, I didn’t die.
But there is a bit of an emotional component – she does get her heart broken after all.
KK: Yes, there is a touch of emotional turmoil in this, but in the end I found it to be incredibly hopeful. It’s rare to find pieces of work that are so full of hope.
How did you relate to the romantic and heartbreak stuff in this movie?
KK: Oh, I think that’s what I liked about the film. Is that you could kind of take it out of the music industry. And actually essentially what it’s about; are people falling down in life. and trying to pick themselves back up. And whether that’s romantically or whether that’s in a career, or whatever, I think you can’t be an adult and not have felt that. In whatever extreme way.
Please tell me more.
KK: So, obviously I completely understood where she was coming from. Not actually the actual scenario. But the feeling of suddenly, thinking that you know exactly what’s going on. And who you are, and where you’re going. And then suddenly finding that you have absolutely no idea who you are. Or where you’re going, or what’s going on. I mean, I don’t think you can be an adult, and not experienced that.
Now that you’re famous, so was it hard or easy to go back to playing a struggling performer in this movie?
KK: Uh, yeah. I’m an actress! So, yep!
The director [John Carney] said that you kept saying about your singing in the movie, ‘I hate this, I fu@#ing hate it!’ And that you didn’t know the microphone was still on.
KK: Yeah, no. I was rather tense. I wasn’t exactly relaxed when I was doing it!
You sing a lot in this movie. Have you ever sung before in public?
KK: Um, I did a film years ago, called The Edge of Love. Where yeah, I sung a bit. But it was sort of like a very 1940s kind of theatrical thing. So it was very different. Yes, I have sung before!
Did they make you take singing lessons for this film?
KK: Yes, for this film they very kindly um, got me some lessons with a very lovely man called Roger Love. And who, we sat down and we did lots of scales. Um, because a lot of the songs were, like the lyrics or something, weren’t written until like a couple of days before we got into the studio. So we didn’t actually have like the songs to sort of figure out. Until we really got there. So it was just about trying to figure out what my voice was. Because, I don’t know! So…He tried to figure that out!
Did you base your character Gretta on any performer we know?
KK: I didn’t, no. I mean, we just sort of, it wasn’t based on anything. For me. We just sort of worked on it from a character point of view. And of going, this is somebody who doesn’t like performing. So that kind of instant need, didn’t have to have that sort of razzmatazz kind of quality to it. You know, this was somebody who really liked being in the background. So it was sort of more about thinking about that as a character. And then kind of just finding what would work, from there. So it was very much from a character point of view. It wasn’t really based on anybody. But for me! I don’t know whether John had somebody in mind.
You have been chosen many times as the most beautiful woman in America and beyond – how do you see yourself?
KK: I don’t really consider myself beautiful – most of us can look amazing after four hours of hair and make-up prep – don’t you think?
Speaking of beauty and fashion, please talk about your fashion statement in the movie.
KK: You know regarding the clothes, we actually had big discussions with the costume designer. About how I wanted her to look. I wanted her to dress for women. And not for men. And I wanted the clothes to be something that women would like. And get. And men wouldn’t, necessarily. So we worked quite hard on that kind of idea. And that kind of slightly tomboy, slightly kind of Annie Hall, absolutely not sexualized kind of um, thing. Which we were going for. So the kind of slightly man’s trouser thing; was a big one.
Do you have any major plans for the summer with your husband James?
KK: Nothing much. Just relaxing and chilling out a bit.
The post Keira Knightley Has Found Her Voice in the Charming Film ‘Begin Again’ also appeared on PCM Reviews.