Keira Knightley, 40, says she’s learning to embrace the chaos of being a working mother.
During an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of “Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum Happy Baby” podcast, the actor shared her mother’s no-nonsense advice on juggling a career and kids.
“She’s a proper second-wave feminist. ‘You just get on with it. You just do it. That’s what you do. You have the babies and you take them and that’s what you do, you know,'” Knightley told host Giovanna Fletcher, recalling her mother’s words.
After having two daughters of her own, whom she shares with her husband, musician James Righton, Knightley said she has come to agree with her mother’s perspective.
“There is a reality to it. You do just make it work,” Knightley said. “It does look different for absolutely everybody, and it’s always a mess. And I think this is what I’ve come to just accept, is that it’s always messy.”
The “Pride and Prejudice” star added that she’s “really lucky” because she has a strong support system that includes her husband and her mom.
Whenever she’s filming, her husband, who works from home, can help keep things running. “It sort of works well from that point of view,” Knightley said, “but it’s always a mess.”
But things are easier now that her kids are slightly older, she said.
“And definitely just from, you know, from being able to, if there’s a problem, they can call me,” Knightley said, adding that even though her daughters don’t have phones, school staff can always get in touch.
Moreover, Knightley said her next job will be based in London, which means she won’t be “disrupting their life.”
“Their life is set. They’re at school. They’ve got their friends. They’ve got the stuff. We’ve got our support network around us because we’re at home,” Knightley said.
The actor added that she’s “tried to get as much work” as she can in London for the sake of her family. In particular, she felt that her kids needed some stability in their lives after the pandemic.
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“I felt for me, you know, and I think for actors that’s very difficult because we move all over the world. So, I’ve really tried to kind of keep it in London, and been really fortunate that I could kind of I could make that work,” Knightley said.
In November 2024, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor said she took a step back from her career because of her kids.
“I couldn’t go job to job [abroad] now. It wouldn’t be in any way fair on them, and I wouldn’t want to,” Knightley told The Times. “I’ve chosen to have children, I want to bring them up, so I’ve had to take a major step back.”
A representative for Knightley did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.
She’s far from the only Hollywood parent to speak about balancing work and family life.
In January, Cameron Diaz, who took a decadelong hiatus from Hollywood, said she spent those 10 years “trying to stay alive just like every other mother.”
Earlier this month, Hailey Bieber said she wouldn’t have been able to manage working and being a mom without outside support.
“I do have help. I have full-time help. And I’m super not ashamed to say that,” the Rhode founder said.
