Keira Knightley Thought About Retiring When She Was 22

Keira Knightley Thought About Retiring When She Was 22: Keira Knightley (Getty Images) Keira Knightley wasn’t happy with her career a few years ago and felt she had missed out on a normal life, but the chance to work with fellow British star Carey Mulligan on Never Let Me Go changed her mind.

She told Britain’s Vogue magazine: “I didn’t know if I was going to go back to acting at all. I think for a long time I thought I wouldn’t. I think I intended not to work again.

“Carey’s a very good friend of mine and I felt if I was to start making films again, she was someone who would watch my back.”

Keira, who is in a relationship with actor Rupert Friend, explained she considered quitting acting because she had become disillusioned with her privileged life, but also because she was desperate to go on vacation.

She said: “I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing and I felt terribly guilty about that.

“I remember hating the idea that I was in a privileged position and couldn’t see the point of any of it.

“I had worked solidly since I was 16, till 22, and I had not been on holiday in all of that time.”