Keira Knightley is one of the most complex actresses of contemporary cinematography, with main parts in films ranging from historical to psychological and plain comedies to blockbusters such as The Pirates of the Caribbean. Although the adventurous character of Elizabeth Swann is likely to come to everyone’s mind when mentioning the name of the British actress, the heightened femininity of the young lady seems to relate better with films such as Pride and Prejudice, after the novel written by Jane Austin, or the romantic drama, Atonement.
Laggies, the latest cinematographic creation starring Keira Knightley, is a light romantic comedy directed by Lynn Shelton and written by Andrea Seigel (screenplay) and is a well-deserved break from darker themed movies such as Anna Karenina (2012). The action of the film Laggies revolves around the quarter-life crisis of the 28 years old main character, Megan. The outbreak of the inner questioning of her character is triggered by the proposal of Anthony (Mark Webber), her high school sweetheart. As Megan’s future professional choices do not seem so bright, whilst her friends celebrate their becoming mature and successful, she decides to elope for one week to her new teenage friend, Annika (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Annika’s single dad Craig (Sam Rockwell).
Keira Knightley was not the director’s first choice for the main part, newspapers report. Anne Hathaway was initially meant to become Megan, but she abandoned the project due to schedule inconveniences with Interstellar. Anyhow, Lynn Shelton does not seem to regret Keira’s joining the crew of Laggies: ’’I was just in awe of her and how much confidence she exuded and she had so much spirit and life that just came tumbling out of her. […] ‘’The Pirates movie [had] so much physical comedy and she was so game to dive in and be sort of swashbuckling…That was the Keira and the side of Keira that I wanted to see again. And it was all still there. I felt she brought so much of herself, her real self, to this part, and I’m so grateful to her for that.’’
In an interview given to The New York Times, Keira Knightley speaks about her enthusiasm on the topic of the movie and about how natural and realistic she finds the situation of a quarter-life crisis. According to her, the contemporary pressure of an accepted social life and fulfilling professional career is the cause of such irresistible need of releasing oneself from an already set life path. Inner questioning such as Am I doing the greatest? or Is this the best variant of myself? is fairly realistic in such circumstances. During another interview given on the subject, the actress once more reflects upon the perfectly-human struggles on which the plot of the movie is based: “I suppose I thought it was about someone who was having a bit of a float,” she says. “This moment where people suddenly go: ‘Er, who am I?’ And I think everyone has had that at some point – and probably has it at many points.”