Gossip » Keira Knightley Talks “A Dangerous Method”

 

Keira Knightley Talks “A Dangerous Method”

She’s always a fan of a challenge, and Keira Knightley had to dig deep for her role in the forthcoming flick “A Dangerous Method.”

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” babe plays Sabina Speilrein, a former patient of Carl Jung who exhibits hysteria and has a large influence on both Jung and Sigmund Freud and the development of “the talking cure.”

Keira explained that she was immediately drawn to the role for multiple reasons. “Everything. I didn't know anything about her. I got sent the script and I just thought the story was completely fascinating. Obviously, I had heard of Freud and Jung, but I had never read anything about them really, and again, I didn't know anything about their relationship either. So the whole thing fascinated me.”

She also noted that the gig wasn’t any different just because her character was a real person. “No, not really. I mean, I think sometimes it's sort of easier because there's quite often a lot more information, you're not making it up, it's there in books, it's there in research form. But really the questions you ask about the character, and why people behave, and where they come, and how they've ended up in the places they've ended up [are the same].”

In order to prepare for the part, “I had about four months before I started shooting when I knew that I was going to play the role. So I basically spent that four months reading as much as I could. When I'd taken the part, and when we'd gotten a yes from everybody, the first thing I did was phone up Christopher Hampton, who wrote the script, and the play, and also wrote Atonement, which I was in.”

“I phoned him and just [said], ‘I'm playing it, but help!’ I went to his house, and he just handed me an enormous pile of books, and said, ‘Start reading.’ So I dutifully did. You know, it was wonderful, it was a load of books I probably wouldn't have read if I hadn't had a reason to read, and they were completely inspiring and enriching and very helpful for playing this part.”