The Pirates of the Caribbean movies are amongst the most successful film franchises out there.
The movies even have the highest of honours: a ride at Disneyland!
But this week, a rather disturbing fact about the movie has come to light, and it’s got the internet in a spin!
Alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley is one of the standout stars of the films. You may also recognise her from The Imitation Game, Colette, Official Secrets, Silent Night, and many, many more. Thanks to her extensive resume, Knightley has the impression of having been around in Hollywood for decades, and pretty much looks the same as she did when she started out!
But given that she’s only thirty-seven years old now, people have been doing the maths about exactly how old she was when she was in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. And they’re not happy about the answer.
Knightley first rose to fame in Bend It Like Beckham. But you might know her best for the Christmas classic Love, Actually.
In fact, people have pointed out before that there’s a disturbingly small age gap between Knightley, who plays a newly-wed woman caught in a heartbreaking love triangle, and Liam Neeson’s movie son, played by Thomas Brodie Sangster. In spite of the fact Sangster is playing a schoolboy and Knightley a married woman, the pair are actually only 5 years apart. Yuck!
But alongside this slightly creepy fact, Knightley age during filming of Pirates of the Caribbean has also got the internet feeling a little uncomfortable. In spite of acting alongside twenty-five-year-old Bloom and thirty-nine-year-old Depp, Knightley was actually still a teenager at the time!
Knightley was born on 26 March, 1985, and The Curse of the Black Pearl was released in July 2003. This Knightley was just seventeen years old during filming!
Given that Bloom plays her love interest in the movie, this is pretty gross stuff…
The internet has gone wild with the discovery.
One fan wrote: “just found out Keira Knightley was 17 in the first pirates of the caribbean movie & i just didn’t need to find that out today.”
Another commented: “JUST FOUND OUT KIERA KNIGHTLEY WAS 17 IN PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. I’M NOT OKAY.”
Did you know this fact? And will it impact your enjoyment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise in the future?
