Keira Knightley: A "Gutsy" Guinevere

Born to a playwright mom and actor dad in London, 19-year-old Keira Knightley has paid her acting dues and is now a true Hollywood "it" girl.  After a few t.v. movies, Keira's first big acting break came when she was cast as the decoy queen for look-alike actress Natalie Portman in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. She co-starred in the t.v mini-series Oliver Twist but it was her role as a rebellious soccer player in the international mega-hit Bend It Like Beckham that was her big breakthrough. Her role as Lara in the t.v. miniseries "Doctor Zhivago" showed her skill at period drama but it's her part opposite hotties Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl that you probably most remember her for.

Now, move over Robin Hood, Legolas and other hot dudes with awesome bow and arrow skills, It's Keira as the gurl-power, kick butt Guinevere in King Arthur, a tale of kingdoms, love and war that features the actress as the kind of queen who fights beside her men, saving them from danger for a change.

When we had a sit-down recently in L.A. with the pretty actress, Keira had sort of a retro-70's thing going with a semi-puff sleeved charcoal blazer over a white shirt and some form-fitting jeans and killer heels. She admitted being dressed by a stylist and said everything was going back after her interviews. Her hair was in a kind of retro-flip and she was all about smoky eyes and pale lips.. kinda a different look for a modern teen..after looking more like Xena Warrior Princess than a modern actress in "Arthur".

TeenHollywood: Wow, you are really action queen in this movie. Did you work out like crazy and really get into it?

Keira: Yeah but I really,  really enjoyed the training. I loved doing the action. I loved working with all the stunt guys. I loved working with all the actors and the trainers. I just had a fantastic time so I suppose yeah, I really got into it. I was in the gym for two hours a day, four times a week for three months beforehand, and then as much as I possibly could on set when I wasn't filming.

TeenHollywood: What about training for those sword-slashing fight scenes?

Keira: That consisted of mostly weight lifting to build up my upper body, and boxing as well,  which we actually introduced slightly later, maybe like two weeks into the training because I'd started the sword fighting. . I went up a dress size, just in muscle. Naturally, I didn't know how to fight so we introduced the boxing so that I'd understand and get my weight down and get the balance right. So that was great fun, and then sword fighting and knife fighting and all the rest came on top of that.

TeenHollywood: In 'Pirates' you were more girly-girl, in this you're tomboy. Which is more you?

Keira: I'd like to think I'm like a man. I suppose I'm more of a tomboy than the girly-girl, which is why I can't walk on these stilettos very well. I look drunk, it's fantastic.

TeenHollywood: Your Guinevere is very tough. Do you see the character as an important role model for a lot of younger girls?

Keira: No, I wouldn't say she's a role model for anyone. If you want a role model, it's fine with 'Pirates' or anything like that, but please don't look to this. She's pretty violent. Yes, certainly her strength is impressive, and as far as a moviegoer and somebody of my age, I want to see more strong women on film. We've seen enough of these wimps – the girlfriend role. And I think it's really positive to see images of women who are every bit as strong as the guys.

TeenHollywood: You have a big kissing scene with Clive Owen (who plays King Arthur). How was it?

Keira: Oh it was a lovely kiss.  Nothing to worry about. Sometimes it can be a nightmare. You always carry mints in your pocket just for politeness and hope for the best, but no, it's been all right so far.

TeenHollywood: Okay, can you agree that the boys in this film are very cute?

Keira: (big grin). They are! I was very lucky. I was surrounded with seven beautiful boys in leather. What more could a girl ask for, really? It was good. Eye candy is nice.

TeenHollywood: So the relationship between Guinevere and Lancelot is a little different in this film and Guinevere is totally take charge.

Keira: Yeah. It isn't focusing on the famous love triangle. That's what every other version of these stories has focused on. My take on Guinevere is that she's a Pict or a Celt. They were matriarchal societies so, automatically,  that makes her a stronger character than we've seen in any other film of this before. She would have been a warrior in her own right. They fought with equal standing with men. We decided she was someone who was pretty high up, so probably a leader of a guerilla (undercover) movement, finding herself in the middle of a group of people who had been her enemies since the moment she was born. All through the film she's trying to work out whether she should kill them or use them to her best advantage. She chooses Arthur because that's the one who's going to kind of get her ends met the most. I think there's a moment when she goes, "Okay, is it going to Lancelot?" and then "No, (Arthur) is going to be the helpful one." But there's definitely moments of connection.

TeenHollywood: But she still has the "hots" for Lancelot (hottie Ioan Gruffudd)

Keira: It's very romantic. I think there are moments of complete sexual chemistry between the two of them.  And what we really wanted to play was the idea that they are in quite similar in characteristics. They're very temperamental. They're very headstrong and these two fiery personalities that really play off each other, which is really fascinating, especially because we didn't have any words to actually do it with. So it was interesting.

TeenHollywood: You're only 19 but you play very sophisticated characters. How have you managed to avoid being cast in typical "teen" films?

Keira: I don't know. I think (those kinds of movies) are a very American thing, and maybe they're just not within the culture as much in England. So I'm only trying to choose things that I'd like to see myself and that really interest me, and it just so happens that it's been films like this as opposed to like that. [About playing older] I think by the end of this year, I will have been married I think 5 times before I'm 20, (in films).

TeenHollywood: Okay, let's talk weird costumes. How tight was the Amazon outfit you wear around your chest?

Keira: It was pretty tight. It was actually all one top as opposed to two. It looks like two bits but it was in fact a solid piece and it was fine.  We took a long time designing that. Originally we had me in full-on armor, and it was like wait a minute, where did she suddenly get that from? That doesn't make sense. So I had to be dressed in what all the other Woads (her people in the film) were dressed in, and actually I was much more covered up than any of the other ones were because all the guys were totally bare on top and really with little loin cloths, and I was like 'no way I'm wearing that'. I was actually really lucky because some of the guys had like tons of armor and it was the height of summer. So they were boiling hot and were literally ready to faint away and I was totally fine.

TeenHollywood: You are often covered in blue war makeup. How long did it take to get all the blue stuff off?

Keira: Not that long if you remembered where it was, because it was always behind my ears and I always forgot about that bit so I always had little blue streaks running down there. I did actually nearly ruin my flat in Dublin. The landlord phoned up the production company because I had blue footprints all over it. He was like, 'What's this kid doing? She's got blue paint everywhere!' And they were like, 'No, sorry, we'll clean it up.'

TeenHollywood: You're becoming a big star. How do you keep grounded now? Do you still travel with your mom?

Keira: She's with me at the moment, but she doesn't come with me when I'm filming.  She visits me. Most of my friends aren't in the industry. Most of them are at university and I'm still friends with the same people I've been friends with since I was 11. So I guess they are going to tell me if I start behaving badly.

TeenHollywood: Do you live at home still?

Keira: No, I have bought a flat. In London. I have a bed and a wardrobe and that's it. People keep saying, Get decorators. And I'm like, no, no, no. That's not the point. I am going to do it myself. I just haven't had any time. And because there's nothing in there I really haven't spent much time there.

TeenHollywood: How do you make time for yourself when you're working so much?

Keira: I think in a world where you're dealing with fantasy the entire time,,  you have to make time for reality, otherwise there's nothing to act from. So I've got a group of friends around me and I visit them and they visit me and we're always talking on the phone, and I think you protect the people you love and who love you. (Keira won't talk about any current boyfriends).

TeenHollywood: You seem to spend your life traveling and on sets. Do you ever get lonely?

Keira: Yeah, but I think what's incredible is that a group of people are thrown together who are all in a foreign land and don't know each other and you get incredibly close incredibly quickly, and that's lovely. And 9 times out of 10 you don't see them again, which is sad and beautiful at the same time. So not really. I think there are always so many people around that you've always got some option.

TeenHollywood: So you do you make friends with people on the set a lot?

Keira: For that moment, I think you do become extremely close to people,  but the nature of the business is that everybody just moves and drifts off to other countries after that. It's rare that you can all get together again, which is what was great about doing the reshoots on this was it was so lovely to have a reunion and see each other again. And what's great about the press junket is you get to see everyone as well. But yeah, I mean, I've never been particularly lonely. Occasionally. But not really.

TeenHollywood: Do you read, listen to music a lot?

Keira: Music, yeah. I'm not a great reader and I wish I was. I just can't concentrate. But music yes. At the moment, Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake. Don't know why but they're both fantastic so why not?

TeenHollywood: This King Arthur is maybe different from all the other versions. Was that why you wanted to play the role of Guinevere?

Keira: We all think we know the legends.  I read the script and said, "God, that's actually really, really interesting." So I was really excited to take a story that everybody thinks they know so well and is such a famous romantic fantasy, and try to find a very gritty reality behind that is a really interesting process.

TeenHollywood: The poster for this film features you. Was that kind of intimidating?

Keira: A film like this is a spectacle. The film is the star. There's nobody else. And as far as the poster goes, I only saw it for the first time a couple of days ago. So, it's very nice and I'm surrounded by two very gorgeous guys and we're all looking good!

TeenHollywood: Having learned a lot of fighting arts for films, what is a skill you would still like to learn?

Keira: Now that you've done archery, sword work, um, the guitar. Yeah, I'll just have to find a film where they need me to play the guitar, because I'd quite like to learn that. But it's great. You get to learn skills that otherwise you'd never.

TeenHollywood: Did anyone get hurt on set? Who was the toughest?

Keira: I was the toughest! Please! We were all covered in scratches and bruises and cuts and maybe a couple of torn muscles, but nothing serious.

TeenHollywood: What's the weirdest place you've ever been recognized since Pirates fame?

Keira: Bajkadar in Ethiopia. They came up and asked, " Can I have your autograph!"

TeenHollywood: What about your next film 'Pride and Prejudice'?

Keira: I'm starting Pride and Prejudice  as soon as I get back, rehearsals for it anyway. That's really exciting. It's a fantastic new director, Joe Wright, who is very young. He's 30 and it's his first feature. We definitely have Judi Dench which is fabulous, and we have Bond girl, Rosamund Pike, which is really exciting as well, and Jena Malone.

TeenHollywood: Have you already shot something else we can see you in after "Arthur"?

Keira: I've got a film coming out at the end of this year, beginning of the next called "The Jacket" with Adrien Brody and Kris Kristofferson and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

TeenHollywood: Okay, one last question for the road. Do you have any tips for action girls on swordplay?

Keira: Yes. Swing as hard as ya can!

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.