Keira Knightley covers the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK. She’s promoting (vaguely) the film Silent Night, which was filmed just before the pandemic hit and the release has already been delayed. So she’s mostly promoting her Chanel contract. For years, she’s been the face of Coco Mademoiselle, and she talks a lot about Chanel clothes, Karl Lagerfeld and what she did during the pandemic. She even talks about her husband, more than she usually says about him, and she speaks for a while about the murder of Sarah Everard. This is a surprisingly nice interview and I enjoyed it a lot, but I love Keira anyway. Some highlights:
Meeting Karl Lagerfeld for the first time in 2007: “I was probably too young to be terrified of him, and I didn’t know enough about fashion. I was staying at the Ritz, and when I opened the wardrobe, I found all these Chanel clothes in there. I just thought the room hadn’t been cleaned, so I phoned down to reception to say someone had left their clothes behind, and they said they were for my stay. But not to keep. It’s always a Cinderella moment.”
She tried to wear Chanel every day of lockdown: “We have a trampoline in our garden, and we decided we were only allowed to wear dresses on it. I put on red lipstick every day, and every bit of Chanel that I have in my cupboard, and my daughter Edie had Chanel ribbons plaited into her hair and fairy wings. I thought, ‘What is the point of these lovely things sitting in the wardrobe, when it feels quite apocalyptic and scary outside?’ It felt so important to be really happy for the kids! And so you’d do it, and you’d forget – and then the shopping would arrive and you’d have to wipe it all down before you put it away, do you remember?’
She appreciates how easy she had it: “When you’re in a scenario like this, and you know there’s nothing you can do but stay at home, you realise the utter frivolousness of your existence – and the utter awe for nurses. How could you give them only a one per cent pay rise? That’s a feminist issue!”
Her husband did the cooking: Righton is “quite extreme, vaguely OCD – it’s what makes him a really good cook.” Having read a slew of environmental books over the first lockdown, he decided that the whole family should eat only vegetables sourced from regenerative farms during the second. “But I’m not a big root-veg fan, and in these regenerative boxes we were getting – this is so middle-class, I can’t bear it – there were four celeriac. And I hate celeriac! I didn’t realise I could feel so strongly about a vegetable…” When Righton offered to whip one up for supper, in place of a much-longed-for takeaway, she lost her temper and threw it at the kitchen floor – “it made quite a thunk.”
She hasn’t been working: “I haven’t worked for a year… I was meant to be doing a TV show in September for four or five months, but I couldn’t make it work with lockdowns and childcare. I was very lucky to be able, financially, to make that decision, so it felt like it was a choice, but it was a crap choice.”
Thinking about the late Sarah Everard: “It was when women started listing all the precautions they take when they walk home to make sure they’re safe, and I thought, I do every single one of them, and I don’t even think about it. It’s f–king depressing.”
On street harassment: “I love that politician who said there ought to be a curfew for men and men were outraged, and you think – but there’s a curfew for women and there always has been.” Has she experienced harassment herself? “Yes! I mean, everybody has. Literally, I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been, in some way, whether it’s being flashed at, or groped, or some guy saying they’re going to slit your throat, or punching you in the face, or whatever it is, everybody has.”
One, there should be a curfew for men. There should be a curfew and it should be enforced. Even if it’s just for one day a week. Two, even famous actresses deal with childcare crises and turn down work because of it. I wonder what her husband was doing that was so important he couldn’t look after their kids for a few months while mom worked? Three, Righton putting his family on a root-vegetable diet during the pandemic is f–king cruel!! Jesus. I know she loves this man and she had babies with him, but Righton sounds like he was a lot to deal with during the lockdowns.
Cover & IG courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar UK.
I would love to experience an enforced curfew for men for even ONE night of my entire life. Just one. All night. No men.
Could you imagine that. What would you do?
I’d spend all night wandering all over the city, everywhere. Maybe one summer night, wearing very little clothing!
I would do my run outside, not indoors on a treadmill. When I started to exercise more, a woman was grabbed off the footpath and r*ped on the route I used. The only other routes near me are more remote and isolated than that route, so the idea that I could run safely outside would be bliss.
The sad thing is when I was chatting to my partner about running I was telling him how unsafe it was, he was all oh yeah, have to be careful about your knees and hips on certain surfaces, I told him I was more concerned about being attacked and his face just fell, it was never a consideration for this man to think about personal safety in that way, it shocked him.
There are a lot of scholarly articles about how to design cities for safety and how current design perpetuates inequities, particularly racial and gender inequities. This is something we really need planners to get on board with and for policymakers to embrace. Safety and security are critical, and the way cities and towns are laid out can create and enhance that while orienting us towards equity.
I would run on a trail by the river, go to the gas station and fill up my car with no catcalls, go to the grocery store in leggings without feeling eyes on my butt the whole time, go out with my girlfriends and enjoy our night without being approached… Sounds so nice.
I was grabbed once by a guy on a bike who rode along next to me, holding on, while I was running one evening right after work on a major road. I screamed and nobody even stopped to ask if I was ok. That was so f-ing scary it put me off running for a good long while. This was in my neighborhood in a “safe” part of town.
I used to run in the morning before work and it would get to the park right as the sun was coming up, but I’d wait until I saw people around before I went it. I don’t run at all anymore.
I’d go roller skating downtown at night in slutty clothing
I would ride my bike out on a path that I normally take further than I normally go. A couple of women have been attacked and since I ride alone, I only go but so far and during specific hours. It’s sad.
@LOLA: Omg, a reverse “Purge” for all the ladies!! One in which a total lack of all violence if any kind is the goal 🥰
I would go outside it a t-shirt w/o a bra for the very first time in my life (I’m 37), or maybe in JUST a sports bra and my favorite jeans & walk along my favorite low-lit river bridge alone late at night to take in the beautiful nighttime summer view, ride my bike for hours on the trails during and after sunset, maybe park my car on the very far side of the parking lot of a 24 hr store after dark to get my extra steps in…The list would be endless!
The role she’s referring to is The Essex Serpent, where she would be playing Claire Danes’ role but had to drop out for the reasons she gives. Am I a little salty I can’t see Keira having an emotional affair and a forest hookup with Hot Vicar Tom Hiddleston? Maybe.
I would have loved to see Keira in a role like that! Aw man.
They’re making a movie of that book? woof. By the 85th description of mud I acknowledged I’d been beat and put it down for good
I mean I like her and everything but she sounds really out of touch and priviliged here.. its her life I guess but still. She wears chanel everyday and throw food at the floor in tantrums and wait for the shopping to arrive. Whatever but it isnt the right time to flaunt it when the world is sufferring so much during the pandemic imo.
Celeriac is not food. I’m vegetarian and mostly vegan, and just no.
I don’t understand her comment about “it’s so middle class!” The boxes? The celeraic? Is she embarrassed that her attitude is middle class? And given that I do not know the ins and outs of the UK class system, what is wrong with something being middle class?
One thing I will always resent about Keira Knightley, however, is how her career took off with Bend It Like Beckham and Parminder Nagra’s didn’t. I know it’s the institutionalized racism in Hollywood, but I will always be bitter.
That was my question too. Is she basically saying something like, “first world problems”. What is her background, how did she grow up?
ITA re: Parminder Nagra. She was on ER for years and that’s all I can remember from her
Middle class is language used differently in the UK. When they say middle class they mean what Americans would call upper class. Just like when they say public school it means private school. So she’s basically acknowledging she has rich ppl problems.
Got it, thanks Hmmmp!
@Manda: IKR?!?!
Agree with you totally re her career taking off after Bend it Like Beckham while Parminder was left in the dust. But of course that opinion would be seen as woke by some.
Why resent her instead of the system, she didn’t stop Parminder’s career from moving forward, the studio executives did. I remember going to the theater to see Bend it like Beckham with a friend, and thinking P’s a good actress, can’t wait to see her in more things and poof nothing. I then saw Keira everywhere but very much typecast so most of her films I never bothered watching. It’s the same formula over and over and over again and we’re seeing change but I’d like to see more of it.
The sounds like a recipe for malnutrition. This observation comes comes from someone on a nutritious plant based diet. I also agree that that celeriac is awful. Lol. I would have thrown that sh*t too.
I also eat a plant-based diet and I say “blech” to celeriac. There are so many lovely root vegetables to choose from, but that’s a no for me.
Tried to wear Chanel everyday during lockdown? lmao, eat the rich. At least she comes across as self aware of her privilege. An imposed curfew for men feels like a good idea sometimes, but we’re not even safe from assault/groping/harassment during daytime.
She works for the brand, they’re paying her and BAZAR* interviews are very glamorous ads at their core, so of course she’s gonna mention them in some way or the other. Also she fully acknowledges that she’s privileged here. I love the things she said about feminism, very clearly put what a lot of us think.
*edited, wrong magazine
Oh, hell no!
I was anti-celeriac, too – until I made a beef stew recipe with it and lots of Moroccan spices. You don’t even know it’s celeriac, just a random root vegetable.
As for the Chanel – I did something that seems similar during the lock down. I had lots of nice makeup that I didn’t want sitting around for a whole year, so I wore it in the house. It made my flannel pajamas seem less defeatist.
I only eat celeriac as rémoulade (I think it’s called), how my mum has always made it – grated in Mayo vinaigrette and left at least overnight. Amazing. Otherwise you can burn it.
I started wearing perfume every day for all my video calls. It definitely helped.
I’ve had celeriac cut into matchsticks and pickled in a vinegrette brine. It tastes like any pickle accompaniment with sandwiches or whatnot. I haven’t heard that it’s meant to be eaten raw.
I did a similar thing of purposely always putting on nice lipstick before I put my mask on. I knew it was going to smudge on the mask, but I liked seeing my face with a favorite shade on my lips before I covered up. It made my mood, errands a little less trudge-y.
It didn’t sound to me as though her husband specifically wanted them to eat an all-root vegetable diet, but rather eat from some local farmer cooperative where you get a box of whatever is available every week, and where they live, whatever happens to be available is root vegetables. Or at least, that’s what I’m guessing a ‘regenerative farm’ is.
Regenerative farming is a kind of natural, organic farming that includes animal husbandry. The grazing animals poop on the land and fertilize the soil to regenerate it without chemicals. Meat raised this way actually has a negative carbon imprint (!), is healthier to eat (more CLA, no/fewer toxins) and tends to be ethically superior, being raised and slaughtered humanely. Small family and community farm model. I am a fan.
Oh, I see. Thanks for the explanation!
I guess she’s acknowledging how privileged she is. These boxes of organic farmed veg get delivered to your door and not how most people get their veg.
I don’t think she sounds out of touch, I think she’s ver aware…she’s been honest about her life during lockdown whilst also acknowledging how frivolous her life is compared to others.
I’m just hear to advocate for celeriac: It’s AMAZING roasted. Slice in 1/4″ disks or cut in sticks like fries, brush with melted butter & sprinkle with garlic/herbs/salt. Arrange in single layer on a sheet pan & roast at 400 till crispy on the edges. You’ll never hate celeriac again.
I find that when people hate a vegetable, it’s usually being prepared wrong. There are just some veggies that are magical when prepared one way, and horrible other ways. Your method sounds delicious!
Exactly. People dunk on brussel sprouts but roast them with olive oil and herbs, finish off with parmesan cheese shavings, and they are like candy.
I’m a keira fan, for years and years. This cover is so beautiful. I liked hearing her british turns of phrase in this interview. It was interesting and funny and also serious. I liked it a lot.
I’ve never had celeriac but that story just hits me funny. My husband is very much a “whatever you’d like to make honey” when it comes to food–and since restaurants are struggling we try to get take out about once a week. Early on in our marriage I had to shift from my love of pasta and bread with dinner to a bit less carbs because my husband was used to eating a bit more healthy. But we’ve balanced out, I don’t *have* to have so many carbs to feel full anymore. Now I make whatever I want and my family eats it, thank goodness. 🙂
I don’t have any Chanel, but my 5 year old daughter and I definitely hosted at-home fancy parties for our little family during lockdown. Like, nice dinner, we all four dressed up (My kids are 5 and 7) and she directed all of us to wear our fanciest clothes. I wore heels, put on lipstick, and we had after-dinner dancing. We did this for my husband and my anniversary, my daughter’s birthday and also Valentine’s day. It was so so fun. I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything.
That sounds sweet!
Her makeup on this cover is not great.