Keira Knightley 'Didn't Care' About The Early '00s Film That Made Her A Star

Though her acting career technically began back in the 1990s, Keira Knightley didn't become a household name until the early 2000s. As a result, while Knightley dreamed of becoming famous from a young age, some of her earliest roles have essentially become fun facts — trivia questions only the actor's most ardent fans could answer. In fact, Knightley herself couldn't remember the name of her character from 1999's "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace," which seems only fair, considering the fact that that the film's credits misspelled the actor's actual name. 

Given that "Star Wars," of all things, didn't make her a huge star, it's understandable that Knightley didn't expect that the soccer flick "Bend It Like Beckham" would be her big break when she was first eyed for it just a couple of years later. As such, by her own admission, the Oscar nominee was rather nonchalant when auditioning for the movie that ended up finally putting her on the map. "I do remember going up for it and I told people about it and it was so embarrassing," Knightley confessed in a 2018 interview with BAFTA, adding, "You know, everyone thought it was going to be sh*t."

Knightley continued, "Because of that when I went up for it I didn't think I was going to get it because it was a film and I thought it was all a bit silly anyway, so I sort of didn't care." But as the British actor tells it, that attitude may very well have helped her get the part, asserting, "[I]t's always an amazing thing when you go up for something and you don't care or you don't think there's any chance of getting it, because suddenly you're very free and easy with it, and I suspect that's what happened there." 

During a March 2023 appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Keira Knightley reiterated that the members of her social circle at the time had vanishingly little confidence in the 2002 sports comedy "Bend It Like Beckham" which, in turn, influenced the teenage actor's own feelings in the lead-up to production. "I literally remember telling people that I was doing it and saying, you know, "It's called 'Bend It Like Beckham,' and them going, 'That's really embarrassing,'" she recalled, adding, "And they were all like, 'Don't worry, nobody will see it. It's fine.'"

In fact, people flocked to watch "Bend It Like Beckham," with the sports comedy grossing more than $90 million worldwide against a budget of just $6 million. It also unexpectedly became something of a critical darling. The feelgood film currently holds an impressive approval rating of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising it as a sweet, simple story that really hits the mark (or, in this case, scores the winning goal). Not only that, but in June 2026, the British Film Institute declared that "Bend It Like Beckham" is one of the "10 great football films of the 21st century."

While Knightley initially doubted that the role would move the needle for her career in any meaningful way, the "Love Actually" star proudly informed Fallon that, despite Knightley's stunning transformation since, "Bend It Like Beckham" remains one of her most beloved projects even all these years later. "It's amazing, because it's still the film that, even today, you know, if somebody comes up and talks to me about my work, it's that one. It's so loved. [...] It's amazing," she enthused.