Keira Knightley says the intense scrutiny she faced as a young actor shaped her career and prompted her to take a deliberate step back from the industry. Now 41, she is appearing in the second season of Netflix’s “Black Doves” and in a West End stage adaptation of “The Lives of Others,” stories that both deal with surveillance.

Knightley was 16 when she filmed “Bend It Like Beckham” and 17 when she joined “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Love Actually.” Further high-profile roles followed, including “King Arthur” and “Pride & Prejudice,” which earned her an Oscar nomination. At the same time, paparazzi followed her around London, waited outside her home and shouted abuse to provoke her.

She recalled feeling as though fame had arrived all at once. Photographers even pursued her to her therapist’s office, she said. Knightley tried to frustrate photographers by wearing the same clothes for days or standing still when they took pictures. She became increasingly withdrawn and, at 22, experienced what she described as a nervous breakdown. She left acting for a year before returning with different priorities.

“I consciously took a step back,” Knightley said, adding that the decision shaped the direction of her career. She has since built a quieter professional life and says she is proud of her work and her family with her husband, musician James Righton, and their two daughters.

In “Black Doves,” Knightley plays Helen, a contract spy married to the British prime minister. The series returns for a second season, in which Helen is more exposed after her husband takes office. Knightley said that raises the stakes while also limiting what her character can do. She was drawn to Helen’s amorality and to the way she separates her professional and domestic lives, rather than to a direct personal connection with the character.

Knightley also plays actress Christa-Maria in the stage adaptation of “The Lives of Others,” about a Stasi agent assigned to spy on a playwright and an actor. Director Robert Icke, who previously worked with Knightley on her 2009 stage debut, said he thought she would understand the character and was willing to portray someone who behaves badly.

Knightley described Christa-Maria as a survivor who has learned to prosper within a corrupt system. The role raises questions about whether people can remain true to themselves when power structures and rules keep changing, she said.

The production marks Knightley’s return to the stage after “Thérèse Raquin” on Broadway in 2015. She said she has become more comfortable with the uncertainty of live performance: she hopes a project succeeds, but feels able to move on if it does not.

Although Knightley would have preferred to avoid the humiliation and scrutiny of her early fame, she does not regret the decisions that brought her those roles. She said she would make them again and would not give up the films that came from them.

Sources: Folha Ilustrada.