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‘Begin Again’ Director Throws Shade On ‘Supermodel’ Keira Knightley

By Robert Jonathan
Published on: 04:23 PST, May 30, 2016

Movie director John Carney apparently is not a big fan of Keira Knightley’s acting or musical skills or the entourage that surrounds her.

And don’t expect them to reunite for a sequel to the movie they made together.

Carney, who is also a musician, directed Knightley in 2013’s Begin Again, in which the Pirates of theCaribbean star played a singer-songwriter who collaborates with a down-and-out record producer (Mark Ruffalo) on an album recorded impromptu at various New York City public locations. Adam Levine co-starred in the movie written by Carney that grossed about $63 million.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwLuDO_Cxfc

Carney is currently promoting his new film, Sing Street, a partially autobiographical coming-of-age vehicle about a Dublin teen who forms a band in the 1980s.

In an interview published yesterday, Carney told The Independent of the U.K. that one thing he learned from helming Begin Again is that “I’ll never make a film with supermodels again.”

For those who follow closely the film industry, Carney is perhaps best known for Once, also with a music-based plot, that won several overseas awards, along with Irish TV comedy-drama series Bachelors Walk.

Working with Ruffalo and Levine turned out to be far different and a more rewarding experience than working with Knightley, according to John Carney.

“Mark Ruffalo is a fantastic actor and Adam Levine is a joy to work with and actually quite unpretentious and not a bit scared of exposing himself on camera and exploring who he is as an individual. I think that that’s what you need as an actor; you need to not be afraid to find out who you really are when the camera’s rolling.”

Carney continued his comparison of Knightley with her co-stars.

“Keira’s thing is to hide who you are and I don’t think you can be an actor and do that… So it’s not like I hate the Hollywood thing but I like to work with curious, proper film actors as opposed to movie stars. I don’t want to rubbish Keira, but you know it’s hard being a film actor and it requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don’t think she’s ready for yet and I certainly don’t think she was ready for on that film.”

Suggesting perhaps that she was just another pampered celebrity, the director also claimed that he encountered logistical difficulties merely gaining access to Keira Knightley on the set of Begin Again.

“The movie star world is not something that ever appealed to me. I like working with actors and I wanted to come back to what I knew and enjoy film-making again – not that I didn’t enjoy Begin Again but Keira has an entourage that follow her everywhere so it’s very hard to get any real work done…”

He also faulted the actress for her lack of musical chops.

“I think the real problem was that Keira wasn’t a singer and wasn’t a guitar player and it’s very hard to make music seem real if it’s not with musicians… And as much as I tried to make it work I think that she didn’t quite come out as a guitar-playing singer-songwriter.”

Carney took another shot at Knightley when he acknowledged being gratified by the positive reviews for Sing Street, given that “it’s a small personal movie with no Keira Knightleys in it. It’s really rewarding.”

Given the above, it’s reasonable to assume that there will never be a Born Again Again starring Keira Knightley.

As far as placing the actress in the supermodel category, which may or may not be a putdown, “Knightley has indeed appeared in ad campaigns for big brands like Chanel, as well as on covers of major fashion magazines. She did, though, make a name for herself in acting first, with 1995’s A Village Affair marking her first film role,” Variety pointed out.

It was probably Keira Knightley’s supporting role in Bend It Like Beckham in 2002 that jump-started her international acting career.

Although Begin Again didn’t set any box office records and may have been largely unseen by American audiences, do you think that John Carney’s criticisms of Keira Knightley are fair or unfair?

[Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP]

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