Orlando Bloom responds to Keira Knightley’s sad admission about Pirates of the Caribbean movies

Orlando Bloom has issued his response following Keira Knightley’s sad admission about her time working on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Back in 2003, Disney fans were treated to the very first in what would go on to become one of the studio's most-loved film franchises of all time.

Knightley, who was just 17 when filming the first flick, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, previously opened up about how 'traumatic' it was at the time and how her breakthrough role went on to lead to years of therapy.

Now, as we know, Knightley played Elizabeth Swann, the daughter of Governor Weatherby Swann, and the love interest of Will Turner, who was played by Bloom.

In 2018, 15 years after the first film came out, Knightley opened up in an interview with Variety about how starring in Pirates of the Caribbean changed her life and landed her in a therapist's office.

She said: "I'm not an extrovert, so I found that level of scrutiny and that level of fame really hard.

"It was an age where you are becoming, you haven’t become, and you need to make mistakes. It’s a very precarious age, particularly for women."

She then noted the experience was 'traumatic', but had 'set up' her career.

Knightley added: "So looking back, would I do anything different? No, I wouldn't because I'm unbelievably lucky now, and my career is in a place where I really enjoy it, and I have a level of fame that's much less intense.

"I can deal with it now, and that's great. But at the time, it was not so great, and took many years of therapy to figure it out."

Keira Knightley was just 17 when she filmed the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie (Disney)

The star went on to share that she learned a fair few lessons as a result of being a young woman thrust into fame.

"We have to be very careful with our young women," she said.

"When I work with young actresses, I'm so protective of them. There’s a lot of people who go, 'Oh, you’re only here because of your face.' And they belittle them because of the way that they look. I think everyone can be a little kinder."

Sharing his experience starring the films, Bloom recently told Entertainment Weekly that 'it feels almost like another lifetime now'.

The actor, who starred as Elizabeth’s love interest, added: "I definitely understand where Keira was coming from, and she does wonderful things.

"I have a lot of positive takeaways."

Bloom starred as Elizabeth's love-interest, William Turner (Disney)

More recently, in November 2024, Knightley told The Times: "It's a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time.

"I was seen as s**t because of them, and yet because they did so well I was given the opportunity to do the films that I ended up getting Oscar nominations for [Pride & Prejudice and The Imitation Game].

"They were the most successful films I'll ever be a part of and they were the reason that I was taken down publicly.

"So, they're in a very confused place in my head."

If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.