Keira Knightley says she only does historical films because women are ‘always raped’ in modern movies

If you're convinced you've only ever seen Keira Knightley in Netflix originals, giggling in bed with her sisters whilst speaking in hushed tones about their crushes, it's because she says she'd rather do that than risk another modern-day role where her character gets violently raped, according to her interview with Variety.

"I don't really do films set in the modern day because the female characters always get raped," she said while speaking with the publication about the "Me Too" movement and Hollywood's role in it, adding that she always finds something "distasteful in the way women are portrayed. "I’ve found very inspiring characters offered to me in historical pieces," she said.

The actress also praised outlets like Netflix and Amazon for producing original dramas with "strong female characters and female stories," versus the women on the silver screen who she says are often violated. And while she admits there have been "some improvement," she doesn't just want to be the loving girlfriend or wife either. "I’m suddenly being sent scripts with present-day women who aren’t raped in the first five pages and aren’t simply there to be the loving girlfriend or wife," she said.

"She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me" her romantic counterpart, Darcy, says of her character in Pride and Prejudice. And though there are plenty of period pieces where women are raped, Knightly turns those roles down, as a rule.

@carolinephinney