British actress Keira Knightley has revealed that when it comes to choosing roles, she’s attracted to a challenge, especially if it involves playing a complex character who is neither good nor evil. She likes to pick parts that put her skills to the test and loves when the character “doesn’t make sense” because it makes it even harder. She isn’t interested in just being the actress who does sex scenes:
“I’m not really interested in the kinds of women who just take their clothes off or have a sex scene and then say something cool. I think a lot of people want to play heroic characters, and that’s it, but I don’t find that very compelling. It’s far more interesting to think about characters whose actions don’t always make sense.”
On the subject of feminism, Keira says she is often jokingly asked if she is a feminist, which she thinks is wrong – she believes people shouldn’t be laughed at for it, and if that’s what they want, then it shouldn’t become a joke. However she admits she wouldn’t want to become a stay-at-home mother:
“I remember doing interviews, and people would ask, as if it was a joke, ‘So you mean you are a feminist?’ As though feminism couldn’t be discussed unless we were making fun of it. I don’t want to deny my femininity, but would I want to be a stay-at-home mother? No. On the other hand, you should be allowed to do that, as should men without being sneered at.”
