I was so obsessed! Keira Knightley on loving Pride & Prejudice and partying through Atonement - BBC

The speaker discusses their favorite Joe Wright films that they have worked on. They mention that Pride and Prejudice and Atonement were enjoyable experiences, while Anna Karenina was more challenging due to the difficult character and complex storyline. They appreciate Joe Wright's focus on rhythm and fast-paced dialogue. They also praise Saoirse Ronan's talent and mention the challenges of working with intricate costumes. Overall, they express admiration for their co-stars and their performances. What is your favourite Joe Wright film that you've worked on with Go? Oh, I don't know. I mean, probably the one I had most fun. I don't know, like, oh. Shall I just make more of these noises and not answer your question? It's really hard to choose because Pride and Prejudice was so amazing because I'd been so obsessed with it since I was about eight. Her sister Elizabeth is very agreeable. Probably tolerable, I dare say. She's not handsome enough to tempt me. So, like, doing that, and then also it was the first time that I'd worked or been around a load of people of my own age who were all interested in the same thing because I'd left school early and, you know, done all of that. Count your blessings, Lizzie. If he likes you, you'd have to talk to him. Firstly. So, I think that was really fun because it was this group of girls that were all together and that was amazing. Does the hot weather make you behave badly? But then Atonement was super special because we were all living... Good heavens, you're blushing. It's just hot in here, that's all. ...in this house in Shropshire together, and at that point we were all partying a lot and that was fun. Dance with me. Anna Karenina was not fun. I'm not used to being spoken to like that by a man I met once at a railway station. I dare say that if I'm not to dance with you, then I'm getting out of this operetta and going home. Because she kills herself at the end. If you haven't seen it, I'm sorry, but it's quite famous. I mean, she's quite... I think the spoiler alert has gone for that. But Anna Karenina was technically super difficult and also with this character that was just not happy. So complex. In any way. So, I think probably fulfilling as far as how difficult something is and yet you're still having to bring it. That was amazing. But probably the first two were actually properly fun. Okay. That scene where it's raining and it's you and Matthew McFadden, and also Hugh comes back in Nutcracker. And in Anna Karenina. My third time. Although I don't actually work with him in Nutcracker. We cuddled once as we parted. You know, we were like ships in the night going, Oh, bye. Bye. Yeah. I love it. That scene where it's... I'm not going to say rat-attack dialogue, but you are spitting the lines at each other. It is an incredible scene. And then it ends with that almost kiss. It must have been electric on set that day. That's what I love about Joe's work, his rhythm. Sorry, this is going to bore everyone now because I'm going to go into technical kind of actress chat. But I love dialogue that's at speed. I love because I think like you and me are doing, we think we speak at the same time. I think like, you know, you're playing a character who's super bright. You want them to be thinking and speaking really fast. And then when you have that pause, like when they really kiss, you feel that energy so much in that pause. Forgive me, madam, for taking up so much of your time. I really enjoy it being at speed. And so does Joe. So I think we've always been interested in like working with that rhythm. May I have the next dance in this little bit? You may. Particularly in that other scene in that film, and you can tell I like the film, but when you're dancing, you have to do an ornate dance whilst kind of battling each other. And was that the one that's all one shot? Yes. I talked about the dance. Now you ought to remark on the size of the room or the number of couples. Great. I love that as well. I'm perfectly happy to oblige. Please advise me of what you would like most to hear. Because again, it's like, you know, mostly in film, you cut it all up. So it's cut up into a million different pieces and you shoot it from a million different angles. So as the actor, you kind of, often you don't have to find the actual rhythm because actually sometimes the editor will find it afterwards. Whereas if you're doing it all in one take, the power is sort of with the actor. You have to get it spot on because there's only going to be one take. You can't cut away to anything. So I really enjoy that. It's fun. It's like the pressure's on, but it's really fun. It's a thrill, I'm imagining. It is a thrill, yeah. Did you know at the time, obviously she got an Oscar nomination for it, but Saoirse Ronan is going to rule the world at some point. Yeah. I wrote a play, Leon. I wanted a new play for you. The Child of Arabella. Still time doesn't have to be this evening. No, it's impossible. Tell you what, I'm good at voices. You're even better. So we'll read it out after dinner. Bryony, did you read the letter? Yes, let's. It's wonderful. Bryony! Here we are. My choc-toe. She's incredible in that film, but I insist you try it in that moment. It's lovely. On set. With all the partying and whatever, I'm guessing she wasn't involved with all that. She definitely wasn't. She was about 11 or 12. Just to be clear. Just to be very clear, the, yes, 11-year-old Saoirse Ronan or 12-year-old Saoirse Ronan was not partying. With you and James McAvoy. No. She delivers an amazing performance, but did you know that on set she goes, she's going to be... Yeah. She's full, you know, I mean, yeah. Like, on set, in the rehearsal room. The thing about Saoirse is that whatever that talent is, is something that is utterly virtuoso. Like, she didn't learn it from, it's utterly within there. And you could see that at 11 or 12 or however. I mean, completely, because she's got this very thick Irish accent and there she is doing this terribly kicked English and it was completely flawless. It's the last Oscar, isn't it, Jimmy? They've run away. Who has? The twins. Like, she's astonishing. I mean, how many, three Oscars? Three. Is she 22 now? I don't know. 23, maybe? Like, insane. She's insanely talented. In many ways, I'm not okay with it. It's just not fair. Let's just agree that James McAvoy's the best. Yeah. Do we agree? Yeah. Okay, great. Yeah. It was never meant to be read. No. Did you keep the green dress? No, I broke them all. You broke... Well, maybe I didn't break them all, but I definitely broke most of them. Yeah, I can see that happening. The problem with the sex scene in a dress like that, it was all laser cut at the front, so all of the patterns were laser cut and literally if you touched it like that, so if I put a coat on over the top of it, so they had so many, the tops were constantly being re-sewn and re-done and re-done and re-done and re-done. You used to sell for your art, didn't you? I mean, I didn't. Well, it wasn't my story. It was a person that fixed the dress that was selling for the art, yeah. Thanks for watching. If you like that, then do watch these videos or you can listen to my podcast called Radio 1 Screen Time. Oh, and do not forget to hit that subscribe button. You can now get more Radio 1 in your life by downloading the BBC Sounds app or the BBC iPlayer app. Search for full-length versions of these interviews by typing in Movies with Ali Plumb.