In a candid interview about her mental health issues, the 'Colette' actress opens up about not being able to work for a year from panic attacks she suffered after paparazzi followed her every moves.
- December 24, 2018
AceShowbiz - Actress Keira Knightley almost turned her back on Hollywood for good after suffering a mental breakdown during her early rise to fame.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star recently admitted she cracked under the pressure of blockbuster fame at the age of 22 as photographers followed her everywhere, hoping to get snaps and video footage of the young Brit in the middle of a meltdown.
In the candid interview with The Hollywood Reporter in October, she revealed the media mauling forced her to retreat from the limelight and take a year off.
"I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), because of all of that stuff," she explained. "I went deep into therapy and all of that, and she (the therapist) said, 'It's amazing, I normally come in here and have people that think people are talking about them and they think that they're being followed, but actually they're not. You're the first person that actually that is happening to!'"
"I managed to find a brilliant friendship group who were very private, but we were out-out-out. The night was the day, the day was at night, unless I was filming" https://t.co/S3ip7BMqBi
— Sunday Times Style (@TheSTStyle) December 23, 2018
Now Keira, 33, has confessed that at the urging of her loved ones, she seriously considered quitting acting for good to escape the unwanted intrusion in her personal life, but she ultimately refused to let the tabloids and paparazzi bully her into giving up her dream job.
"I did think about it (quitting her career)," she tells Britain's The Sunday Times' Style magazine. "Particularly at the point when I had a breakdown."
"I had PTSD and panic attacks. I literally couldn't work for a year and I didn't know whether there would be an end to that."
Luckily, the time she spent laying low allowed Keira to regain her strength and determination to stand up for herself.
"I have a super-solid background and thank f**k for that," she reflects. "My family and my small but very close group of friends just wrapped me up. And I think, without that, it would have been a very different story."
"I knew I always had somebody there to cuddle me who didn't want anything from me. Ultimately I didn't want them (the media and paparazzi) to win. The only thing I want to do is make films."
