Keira Knightley’s intelligent choice of characters is nothing new. The 39-year-old star bagged her first film role at the age of nine. It was in 2002 that Knightley won the London Film Critics’ Circle Award for Best Newcomer for her role in Bend It Like Beckham. It was the following year that her breakout role as Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl launched her to international fame. Her character in her latest Netflix series, Black Doves, is layered with lies, pain, and joy.
It has been 20 years since you last did a television series. What was it about this one that interested you?
I had been looking to do something like this for quite some time and it just came along. I had seen Girl/Haji and loved it. So, when the chance to work with Joe Barton came up, I was super excited. I read the script for the pilot for Black Doves and just thought it was brilliant.
How would you describe the show?
It is a spy thriller. I play the character of a woman named Helen. She is married to a Tory MP but is a secret undercover agent, selling government secrets. Helen is a two-faced psychopath who has an extra-marital affair. It is when her lover gets murdered, she sets about avenging his death with the help of her best friend, an assassin, played by the brilliant Ben Whishaw. It’s through seeking revenge that she discoveres that this weird kind of bloodlust makes her feel alive again. But, at the same time, there’s a lot to Helen we don’t know at the beginning of the show.
How did you prepare for all the action scenes?
I had about a month to train before we started filming. I did jujitsu, boxing, knife fighting, and gun training. It was a lot, but we had a great stunt team that was so incredibly brilliant. What you learn is that fight scenes are just like choreographed dances. You learn the basic movements, and then the stunt team will work you through the choreography.