'It made me feel like I was standing in the school playground': Keira Knightley reveals invasive social media mentality made her deactivate Twitter account... after just 12 hours
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Twitter may well be a handy arena for self-promotion, but Keira Knightley admits a mere 12 hours on the social networking site was all she could stand before deactivating her account.
The 28-year-old actress – who previously described the Internet as ‘dehumanising’ – tipped a tentative toe into the 21st century micro-blogging pool by opening an account with a false name, but promptly shut it down after her initial fears regarding social media were realised.
Speaking to the February edition of Harper’s Bazaar UK, she said: ‘It made me feel a little bit like being in a school playground and not being popular and standing on the sidelines kind of going, ‘Argh.’’
Opening up: Keira Knightley talks social media, marriage and working in a male dominated industry in the February edition of Harper's Bazaar UK
Her absence from the social networking sphere – where the divide between fans and celebrities is blurred and ambiguous – may well have contributed to the misconception that she is ‘haughty,’ but Keira brushes it off.
‘No, I think that’s fine… I like being private,’ she said. ‘I haven’t asked a lot of the actresses who I really admire, 'How do you do it?' because I don’t want to know.
‘Maybe I’m childish in that way; I just don’t want to know about your life.’
Standing on the sidelines: Keira Knightley has been opening up about her reasons for quitting Twitter after just 12 hours
Candid: Keira Knightley's interview can be read in full when the February edition of Harper's Bazaar UK goes on sale
Despite carving a hugely successful career since winning a prominent role in 2002 sleeper hit Bend It Like Beckham, Keira says she’s still fighting an uphill battle in a male dominated industry.
‘I go to work at 5.30 in the morning; I wouldn’t get back probably until nine o’clock at night. Most of the guys that I talk to – and I’ve spoken to a lot of guys about it – they say ‘My wife does everything.’ You think, ‘Why wasn’t I thinking about this five years ago?’
She added: ‘Hollywood has a really long way to go. I don’t think that anybody can deny that, really, and I think as much as you are getting more women playing lead roles… they’re still pretty few and far between.'
Inequality aside she admits that after more than twenty years in the industry she's only just reached the point where she feels confident enough in her own abilities to not seek approval from others.
‘(I was) spending so much time being neurotic and beating myself up (that I thought) actually, if I didn’t, I might get further by just going, 'Oh, f**k it.’
Keira will be back on the big screen next year in Kenneth Branagh’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit alongside Chris Pine and Kevin Costner.
The film is released nationwide on January 31.
To read more of Keira's interview, visit www.harpersbazaar.co.uk.
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