John Carney Aplogizes For Slamming Keira Knightley’s Acting Skills
Director John Carney has issued a public apology to actress Keira Knightley after her slammed her acting skills.
During a recent interview with the Independent, published last week, Carney spoke about a past film, Begin Again, 2013, in which Knightley starred. While he had nothing but praise for her co-stars Adam Levine and Mark Ruffalo, Carney said he didn’t think Kiera was ready for the film, and he would never “film with supermodels again.”
“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,” John told the news site. “Keira’s thing is to hide who you are and I don’t think you can be an actor and do that.”
Carney added that “… 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.”
After the interview was published, several directors came to Keira Knightley’s defense. According to Variety, Mark Romanek, who directed Knightley in Never Let Me Go, said his experience directing Keira “was utterly spectacular on every level,” while director Ava DuVernay tweeted, “There are actors that directors won’t call again for whatever reason. But don’t disparage them in the press. C’mon.”
My experience with #keiraknightley was utterly spectacular on every level. I have no clue what this guy is talking about. #arrogantshithead
— mark romanek (@markromanek) May 30, 2016
There are actors that directors won’t call again for whatever reason. But don’t disparage them in the press. C’mon. https://t.co/piMhqwyWIX
— Ava DuVernay (@AVAETC) May 29, 2016
On Monday, John Carney took to Twitter himself to issue an apology to Keira Knightley. In a lengthy post, Carney admitted he was ashamed of what he said, calling his words “petty, mean and hurtful.”
“Recently, in a phone interview, the conversation turned to a discussion about a past film, ‘Begin Again,’ starring Kiera (sic) Knightley,” he wrote. “I said a number of things about Keira which were petty, mean and hurtful. I’m ashamed of myself that I could say such things and I’ve been trying to account for what they say about me. In trying to pick holes in my own work, I ended up blaming someone else. That’s not only bad directing, that’s shoddy behaviour, that I am not in any way proud of. It’s arrogant and disrespectful. Keira was nothing but professional and dedicated during that film and she contributed hugely to its success. I wrote to Keira personally to apologise, but I wanted to publicly, and unreservedly apologise to her fans and friends and anyone else who I have offended. It’s not something that I could ever justify, and will never repeat.”
From a director who feels like a complete idiot. pic.twitter.com/vfO8m4U2Hl
— John Carney (@jayceefactory) June 1, 2016
As of Thursday, June 2, Knightley has not commented on Carney’s interview comments, or his apology.
Do you think John Carney’s apology is sufficient? What do you think about his original interview comments? Leave your thoughts below.
[Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Stringer/Getty Images]
