Quotes

1. The problem for me was that by being in the film the magic was broken. I loved the first Star Wars film and my mum was really into it too, that's why I took the part. But the Force wasn't there when we were filming it, and they didn't have real light sabres, which annoyed me.

2. (about wearing a corset on Pirates of the Caribbean) I had a Scarlet O'Hara thing, she gets her waist down to 18 and a half inches - so I thought I would try that. For 5 minutes it's fantastic - you have this tiny waist and fantastic cleavage, but oxygen deprivation is a big problem!

3. (About kissing Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean) There were these teenaged girls off-cam, and they were ready to kill me because I kissed Orlando Bloom!

4. I feel less blonde now and, er, smarter!"

5. There's no point having an 18th birthday in America."

6. I've always been a snob about qualifications."

7. (on Bend it Like Beckham) "I thought there would be doubles - stunt doubles - and I would just run in for the close-ups, but unfortunately they didn't have the money for that."

8. Apparently on the Internet I'm a sexy beanpole, tomboy beanpole."

9. (after being called the new Hayley Mills) That was cruel! Nothing against Hayley Mills, but I'm trying to be cool here. I'm trying to be edgy.

10. Do you know that on all the sets I've been on, nobody has ever made a pass at me?

11. (on shoes) I see a pair of shoes I adore, and it doesn't matter if they have them in my size. I buy them anyway."

12. (on The View) I met Barbara Walters backstage and didn't know who she was. She's an American phenomenon, I was told later. I'm just sooo English."

13. (at a photo shoot) I'm a hooker in these pictures, and I must be a high priced one because I'm staying at the Ritz, which is good."

14. I'm a tomboy beanpole? I can't use a computer, so maybe I'm a bit out of the loop. I don't know whether to be flattered or not flattered. The beanpole bit, is that good? Can you be a sexy beanpole?"

15. Katharine Hepburn and Vivien Leigh are my heroes. Not because of their ability, but because of their perseverance."

16. When in doubt, faint."

17. We had kind of done all our wedding and we felt like the stars of the show, then sudden you've got all these other people with storylines and you think: excuse me, I know you're Alan Rickman but get out of my film, please, thank you."

18. I know for a fact the work is going to dry up, and people will get bored of me. That's not bitterness, just the truth.

19. (on her conception) I was a bet. My mum was desperate for another child, and my dad told her that the only way they could afford to have one was if she sold a play. So Mum wrote When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout.

20. I don't think I can call myself an actress yet. I just don't think my skill level is that high. I hope that with every job it gets better. But until I'm good, I can say I'm trying to be an actor, but I don't think I've completely made it.

21. As a moviegoer and a woman, I want to see that, so it's great to get to play parts like that. But Guinevere is a terrifying creature. If I saw a battle, I'd run in the other direction. I'm not strong in that way at all. But I'm certainly someone who has always known what I wanted and tried to get it.

22. In this business, fame lasts for a second. You can be blown up and be blown down. People keep losing interest in faces because new ones come along every single second. I'm one at the moment. Tomorrow I won't be. That's cool. I'm not saying that when it does end, I'll be like, 'Yay! It's ending.' But I'll move on and do something else because that's what has to be done. It's about survival. If you're sad about it, then you're in the wrong job.

23. (on actresses living in Hollywood) I take my hat off to actresses there, particularly the young ones, because the emphasis is on trying to find perfection. But I think it's the imperfections in people that make them perfect. I don't find perfect faces very interesting.

24. Acting requires me to be very observant, which means being able to sit in cafes for hours and watch people.

25. I don't have a problem with my body. I'm not just going to strip off all my clothing, but if the part calls for it and I don't think there's any way round, I'm absolutely fine."

26. I'm a bit of a tomboy so the action stuff was fantastic."

27. It's also strange when people recognise you in the street and they know you but you don't know them. It's a little weird, but nothing to complain about.

28. I'd wanted to get stuck into the action on Pirates of the Caribbean and I asked Jerry if I could have a sword fight in that, and he more than made up for it in King Arthur by giving me axe fights, knife fights and all the rest of it. I absolutely loved it. It was like being 11 years old and in the playground again.

29. (on the love scene with Clive Owen in 'King Arthur') It was part of the job. There's no point in being embarrassed about it because that is the name of the game. It was just another day at the office. A very nice day at the office.

30. I don't think about nutrition. The very thought of a diet makes me want chips and ice cream. And I just hate going to the gym. I cannot stand it.

31. The fact that we haven't focused on the love triangle between Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere was actually one of the things that made me want to do the film. It's interesting to tell it in a completely new way.

32. Every part I've ever got, I always thought it was completely ridiculous that I was up for it. With Pirates, I only packed for a week because I was sure that I was going to get sacked. I thought they'd made the hugest mistake."

33. We're all fans of cinema, you know. Forget about being an actor, I love watching films. I really do. That's what I love doing, as a hobby. I find the whole process fascinating, as do my parents, they go to the cinema a lot.

34. I don't do a thing to keep fit, I just cannot make myself work out. My abs are just luck - my mum has good ones so it's a family trait."

35. I don't read any magazines or newspapers any more, because I find it really scary and I get really scared when I'm followed by photographers. I have, on many occasions, broken down in tears because I find it terrifying. I dropped out of school when I was 16 so there's nothing else that I can do.

36. Beauty tip from Keira Knightley: Play the flute if you want a pout. That's my secret.

37. If a boob job's really the answer to all your problems, I take my hat off to you. And who knows? in five years time when I'm completely past it, I'll be botox and facelifts and nose jobs and hair weaves and watermelons. But I don't fancy solid tits.

38. Very few people have chatted me up. Maybe I'm just a sad person and I don't sit at enough bars.

39. I'm British, so the whole sex scene and being topless is fine. In fact, to be able to do that in the middle of the desert was quite liberating. And to do it with a beautiful Venezuelan well, let's just say I'm a lucky girl.

40. In this business, fame lasts for a second. You can be blown up and be blown down. People keep losing interest in faces because new ones come along every single second. I'm one at the moment. Tomorrow I won't be. That's cool. I'm not saying that when it does end, I'll be like, 'Yay! It's ending.' But I'll move on and do something else because that's what has to be done. It's about survival. If you're sad about it, then you're in the wrong job.

41. I was mostly the only girl around all these men, but most of them were bearded and grubby... except for Or-lan-do.

42. I don't like parties very much. I'm not a very sociable being.

43. I think every girl is looking for her Mr Darcy.

44. Yes, I have breasts. So does 50% of the population. Do we really have to waste time talking about mine? I don't think so.

45. I tried college for three months but I was desperately unhappy. I just wanted to perform. I was getting straight As but I had no friends and cried every day.

46. It's all about perfection, isn't it?

47. I know acting is a profession where one minute, you're hot and the next minute, it can all go away,

48. (on preparing for the kiss with Orlando) A lot of studying. Yes, I went around kissing every boy that I could find. 

49. (on kissing with Orlando) I think it comes naturally to kiss Orlando anywhere. I had no trouble with kissing him on-camera. He's a good-looking boy, why not?

50.  (on Johnny Depp) There's no question, at least I think, is that he is one of the most talented actors around at the moment. The fact that he's courageous enough to absolutely go for this character in a completely unique way, well, it completely sums up Johnny. So I loved it. It was very spontaneous, it was very funny. It kind of all gave us all a freedom to let us play around and do what we wanted to do. 
What kind of personality does he have? I can't say enough good things about Johnny. He's just a normal guy. But he can talk about absolutely anything. He's possibly one of the most intelligent, most well-read people I know. Which, personally, I love, because like me, he's a school drop-out. He's incredibly generous and just gorgeous. And as my mom said, 'He must have been brought up very well!' So I had a great time working with him, and he made me laugh all the time, which is all you can ask for when you're on a six-month shoot.

51. (on Geoffrey Rush) He's incredible. I've been a big fan of Geoffrey for ages. It's amazing watching him work. I wouldn't say he's method, but he's certainly more method that I am. He went through an incredible amount of preparation time, doing three hours of make-up and prosthetics every single day. As soon as you're finished, it was dinner and wine and a fantastic laugh. 

52. Nobody confuses me with Natalie Portman at all, apart from when I do interviews like this and everybody goes, 'God, you look like Natalie Portman.' But if you're going to look like Natalie Portman that's great. If I'm going to be compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger, then I'll start to worry. But Natalie Portman, why not? 

53. It was really weird, they said that to me yesterday. They asked ‘how does it feel to be always be called anorexic?’. I had no idea that I was. I can safely that I’m not, I’ve got a lot of experience with anorexia, it was in my family, hugely, my grandmother and my great grandmother suffered from it. And I’ve got a lot of friends at school who suffer from it. I don’t think it’s anything to be taken lightly. I don’t have it, I’m very sure I don’t. But I suppose in a way it’s good that it’s out there and people are talking about it because at least it’s something young girls are aware of. It’s quite interesting because it’s normally high achieving young women who suffer from it, so I guess control freaks. I mean it’s understandable how you’d associate that with high achieving people in the film industry as well, and I’m not saying that there aren’t people that suffer from it because I’m, sure that there are. But I’m not one of them.

54. I reject being a role model for a young person, I think it’s ridiculous, I don’t know how you can ask anybody to be a role model for somebody. I don’t know how you [Orlando] feel about this, but the idea that you put somebody up there and say that’s an ideal, that’s how you should behave, I’m the first admit that I make mistakes all the time so I think that’s ridiculous.
Playing characters I think can be role models, Elizabeth Bennett, Elizabeth Swann – I’m having a good time with the Elizabeths now – yeah definitely. But equally I don’t think that you should only play characters that are good role models, I think that’s ridiculous as well. But it’s lovely when you do play a character that people really look up to, that’s great.

55. (on plastic surgery) Oh fuck no, I'm British. [laughs] Don't come near me with a knife!

56. I just think that on a battlefield, you don't want to see her tits bumping up and down. It would be rather distracting.

57. (on Donald Sutherland) We adored him. He was amazing, completely amazing. Partly because he did love having six women around him all the time. We were really lucky, as Brenda said it was an amazing company to work with and be amongst.

58. (on Mickey Rourke) I love him. He’s amazing. It’s been really good. He’s such a talented actor, so talented, so that’s been amazing just watching him. I think he’s great. We’ve had such a laugh. He’s been truly great so it’s been a lovely experience.

59. It's about luck. I'm not the most talented around, I'm not the most beautiful. I'm lucky to have been in movies that have worked.

60. Yeah, they were paying me to kiss Orlando Bloom and get stuck on an island with Johnny Depp, somebody has to do it!

61. I was a swot. I was always at the front of the class, I always had my hand up. I got all my homework done on time, I never even had a detention! I feel really ashamed of myself; it's the most boring thing ever!

62. (on paparazzi) I don't think anybody thinks beling followed by photographers is great because it isn't. It's not about the pictures - who cares about that? - It's about the fact that as 20 year-old women, I'm walking down the street and I have men in cars with blacked-out windows following me all day long. That's very, very, very scary and strange thing to deal with. I know they have perfect legal right to be there and I understand that, but it's frightening. I think if they let me go on with my day, if they're not that obstructive and I can walk down the street and do my loundry, then that's cool. It's when they start physically trying to stop me leading my life that I have a problem. I understand that is sort of goes with the job but it's very a strange thing.