Keira Knightley, Not Suited for The Jacket? Posted by: Kim Lance

Knightley, who rose to stardom because of her appearances in films like Bend It Like Beckham, Love Actually, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, had to actively pursue the role of Jackie in The Jacket to prove she was suited for the role.  She had to overcome skepticism, cultural differences and a debilitating case of food poisoning to get the role she most desperately wanted.

Knightley Loved The Jacket Script

While in Dublin filming the role of Guinevere for Jerry Bruckheimer’s King Arthur, Knightley read the script for The Jacket and instantly developed a desire for the role of Jackie.  “It was an exciting, imaginative script, and a role I wanted to play immediately,” recalls Knightley.  “The other eight scripts on my pile were variations of the same pretty, uptight British girl, but Jackie was this damaged character who meets a guy going through trauma.  It’s very rare that a film will show people who are in the process of self-destructing.”

Knightley took advantage of a day off from filming for King Arthur to travel to London to meet with Maybury and the producers about The Jacket.  Knightley had a horrible case of food poisoning at the time but refused to miss out on an opportunity to play Jackie, even when she found out the meeting would be a lunch meeting, involving food.  “I spent most of my energy trying not to projectile vomit on these people I desperately wanted to work with,” she remembers.

Maybury Didn’t See Keira Knightley as Jackie

Originally, director John Maybury could not envision Knightley in the role of Jackie but Knightley convinced him to allow her to read for the part.  Knightley explains, “I declared that if I didn’t get the part of Jackie I could be stuck in corsets for the next 20 years, and asked him to let me read.  He agreed, and promised if he was convinced, then he would hire me.”

Maybury adds, “I didn’t want Keira Knightley for the role.  I’d met 15 to 20 young American actresses, and there were at least two or three that I thought would be terrific as Jackie, so very reluctantly I met with her.  I knew she was an interesting, pretty girl, but that was it as far as I was concerned.  The fact that she had food poisoning at the audition actually served to make her act and look even more Jackie like.  Then, when she read, she was excellent, and I realized that she was a very intelligent girl and a very good actor.  She comes across almost like a young Jane Fonda.”

Transforming Into Jackie

Getting the role was not the only challenge Knightley was faced with during her work on The Jacket.  Somehow Knightley was going to have to transform from a sophisticated and beautiful British actress into an alcohol abusing, down on her luck, small-town American diner waitress.  Maybury gave cultural cues to Knightley to aide in her character development.   The director gave her tangible examples of the influences he wanted “Jackie” to reflect.  Examples included: Edie Sedgwick, the self-destructive and alcoholic star of Andy Warhol’s film Ciao Manhattan; outrageous female rock star Courtney Love; and languid Marlene Dietrich. 

Knightley also studied a tape of Laura Marano, the young actress who plays Jackie as a child, so that she could connect in attitude and gesture with her younger self.  “Laura has a direct way of talking, and a certain stance that I could carry through to the older Jackie,” says Knightley.

Knightley was also encouraged to spend time by herself and listen to a lot of loud music to reinforce her character’s isolation and cultural influences.  The young actress spent time alone listening to artists such as Jeff Buckley, White Stripes, Nirvana, and The Strokes. 

Reflecting on Jackie

Reflecting on her character Jackie, Knightley says, “She is stuck in her past, carrying a huge amount of guilt from the death of her mother.  Even as a child, she felt responsible for Jean, trying to protect her from her problems, looking after her.  And when we first see Jackie, she is becoming her mother – stuck in a small town, drinking too much, in a dead-end job.  When she meets Starks (Adrien Brody) she has nothing to lose, and she has no self-protection instinct.  She picks up a stranger in a car park, offers him a ride, then lets him stay at her apartment, while she drinks and takes a bath.  She is almost inviting harm in a reckless way.”

Knightley was aware of the transformation that needed to happen in Jackie as her character gains a new lease on life, stating, “She chooses to take a chance; to let something happen to her.”  Jackie’s ability to take a risk is similar to that of the actress portraying her, who took a chance on a role many believed she was not suited for.