Current track

Title

Artist

Current show

Dave Thomas

7:00 pm 9:59 pm

Current show

Dave Thomas

7:00 pm 9:59 pm

Background

Keira Knightley: I’m a news junkie – but sometimes it’s nice not to know

Written by on 18/10/2019

Keira Knightley has admitted she is addicted to news – though a current break after welcoming her new baby is “quite nice” given the stories currently dominating headlines.

image

The star, who plays real-life whistle-blower Katharine Gun in new film Official Secrets, told Sky News she is usually immersed in current affairs.

“I am a news junkie up until I’ve just given birth to my daughter six weeks ago, so the last six weeks I have to say I haven’t been that much of a news junkie, which has been quite nice given what’s going on right now,” Knightley said.

“It’s quite nice not to know.”

I asked if she is binging boxsets instead.

“Yeah, well, Bake Off actually, from season one. I was like, that’s what I need, I just need nice baking. That’ll do me right now.

“And then I will be a news junkie again after that.”

In Official Secrets, Knightley’s character leaks a memo which shows the US wanted to spy on members of the UN ahead of them passing a resolution on the invasion of Iraq.

It’s impossible to watch the drama without wondering what you would do in that situation.

The Atonement star said she doesn’t think she would have managed to do what Gun did.

:: Listen to the Backstage podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

“No, I suspect I probably couldn’t. I think that this is where it’s a film about an extraordinary person because actually I think very few people do it – we all like to think that we’d stand up for our morals and we’d be the one to tell the truth, but I think realistically most of us look the other way and horrifically, I think probably maybe I would.

“I don’t know, maybe it depends on the day, but I think often we save ourselves, don’t we?”

Gun arguably had more to lose than most – as well her own career and a potential prison sentence, the leak could impact her husband, who was seeking asylum.

Knightley said she believes Gun was extremely brave.

“I think particularly when you’re talking about how she put so much on the line, she put her whole life on the line to try and get the truth out.

“And we do tend to punish people within our societies that do that, and I think we all know that.

“So I think it’s natural to want to protect yourself but there are some extraordinary people who don’t.”

Knightley describes herself as politically engaged – and thinks it’s a good thing that politics continues to dominate the news.

“Politics is about what’s happening in the world around you and the society that you want to live in, so I think it’s very important to be engaged – as engaged as you possibly can be with that,” she said.

“Because if we’re all fighting for democracy and we do believe that that’s the right thing, the right way of government, then you do have to be a participant in that democracy.

The actress then added, laughing: “Apart from when you’ve just had a baby, in which case you get to not do anything apart from try and sleep and feed a child.”

Official Secrets is out in cinemas in the UK on 18 October.

(c) Sky News 2019: Keira Knightley: I’m a news junkie – but sometimes it’s nice not to know