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 The 34-year old plays Katharine Gun, a former translator at
Britain's global spy center who was charged with breaking the
Official Secrets Act for leaking a U.S. memo seeking London's
help in spying on the United Nations.
Knightley spoke to Reuters about the role. Below are edited
excerpts of the interview.
Q: Very few people know Gun's story.
Knightley: "I remember the lead up to that conflict really well
and I do not remember anything about this story...I thought wow,
this is a really interesting thing to shine a light on,
particularly when you look at the conflict in Iraq in terms of
history, you think well that's a piece of the puzzle that feels
very important and that I think people should know more about."
Q: Why is it important for people to know more about it?
Knightley: "It's the questions that it brings: government
accountability, legality of conflict and if perhaps conflicts
are not legal, who is held accountable for that? How do we want
our societies to work?"
Q: How much of it was a wakeup call to our generation to pay
more attention to politics and foreign affairs?
Knightley: "Definitely within my friendship group it was such a
moment of disillusionment because we all went to the
streets...and the idea...that they weren't listening...and that
feeling of disillusionment and that feeling of shock at certain
political figures maybe not telling the truth, I think has had a
major impact."
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Q: Being a mother, how do these things play on your mind for the
next generation?
Knightley: "It's going to be climate change isn't it? It seems
pretty apparent and if you read anything about climate change it
seems that they're going to be the massive things that younger
generations are going to be hugely fighting against. The question
really for our generation is are we doing enough?"
Q: How has the film helped you to understand what it takes for
someone to risk everything by whistle blowing?
Knightley: "There will be many people that don't believe what
Katharine did was right. There will be many people who do believe
what Katharine did was right. What you can't question is her
courage. The idea that somebody has a moral reaction to something
and puts everything on the line...for something she believed was
right in order to...save lives is an extraordinary thing. Would I
have the courage to do that? I don't know."
(Reporting by Emilie Roe; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing
by Ros Russell)
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