Keira Knightley does not want to direct.
Although the ‘Colette’ actress is hugely supportive of female filmmakers in Hollywood, she insisted she has no plans to move behind the camera.
Keira, 33, told the Hollywood Reporter: "No, no. But there’s a lot of talented female directors. I think that they need to be supported. I think that female point of view is very important. I think we need more [directors of photography], more producers, and we need more writers, so I think we really need to push for representation."
Keira stars in ‘Colette’ as the renowned French novelist – also known as Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette – who was nominated for a Nobel Prize for literature in 1948 and is famed for writing ‘Gigi’, a novel about a young Parisian girl being groomed for a career as a courtesan.
The film tells the true story of the author – who was born in 1873 – and her first marriage to the fashionable socialite Willy Gauthier-Villars, who was also a writer, music critic and her mentor.
Willy locked his wife up to write novels for him that subsequently became huge best sellers and made him rich, though Colette inevitably rose out of his shadow.
While Keira loved the script, director Wash Westmoreland admitted confirming the actress for the role proved tricky, due to some phone drama.
He said: "As soon as she read the script, she was really into it, and I was at Shanghai Film Festival, and I got a message: Keira Knightley wants to FaceTime you. It came through a few hours later, and I had like 15 percent on my phone, so it was the fastest conversation that’s ever happened. We got down to 2 percent, and the battery was red, and I said, ‘Keira, no one can do this role as well as you,’ and she goes, ‘Oh, go on, let’s do it!’ And the phone died."
No director plans for Keira Knightley
