Keira Knightley Talks Woman in Cabin 10, Netflix’s Pride & Prejudice Reboot

When director Simon Stone first read the script for Netflix’s latest psychological thriller, The Woman in Cabin 10, it was as if he had been transported back in time.

“I was really fascinated by how much it felt like it came from an era of movies that we don’t make anymore,” Stone says. diverse The film is based on Ruth Weir’s 2016 novel of the same name. “The script itself is very Hitchcockian – it’s a period thriller produced the last time the world went politically mad, after the Watergate scandal.”

Now streaming on Netflix, The Woman in Cabin 10 follows Lou Blacklock, an investigative journalist aboard a luxury cruise liner owned by a mysterious billionaire, who is convinced she saw a passenger being thrown overboard. As Lou gets closer and closer to the truth, paranoia creeps in as everyone on the ship tells her she’s losing her mind. The tense film centers on none other than Keira Knightley, who delivers a layered performance as a woman who refuses to back down in the face of injustice.

Author Weir was shocked to discover that Knightley was attached to the project, but says the Oscar nominee really got to “the heart of Lou’s character.”

“On the one hand, she has a fragility, a kind of vulnerability, and on the other hand, she has a real inner strength — a core of steel and an unwavering sense of what’s right. I think Keira masters that,” Weir says.

To prepare, Stone asked Knightley to watch a series of popular thrillers: Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, starring Gene Hackman; “The View” with Warren Beatty; And Robert Redford’s films “All the President’s Men” and “Three Days of the Condor.” Knightley, who has recently dabbled in the genre thanks to her hit Netflix series Black Doves, was keen to take on another interesting project.

“I’m a huge fan of the action genre, I love it, and all those movies he mentioned are movies I just loved,” Knightley says. “So the opportunity to play that main character — which is usually a man — was just an opportunity where I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is exciting.’ You wouldn’t necessarily look at me and think Gene Hackman type, you know?

Knightley says she was inspired by the “quiet” performances by Hackman, Redford and Beatty, while at the same time making it her own by evoking paranoia. “You used to say Warren Beatty doesn’t do anything in Parallax View,” Stone recalls with a laugh. “And I said, ‘Well, maybe give me a little more than that.’” Keira finds that nuance extraordinary.

“It’s a wonderfully relaxing path that they choose, which is very interesting when you’re dealing with stress,” Knightley adds. “That’s basically what arousal is — it’s how you serve that kind of stress.” “There’s leaning against the wall or constantly chewing or constantly thinking and watching everyone, but in reality the action is happening with everyone around them.”

Guy Pearce convincingly portrays the billionaire in question, Richard Bulmer, while Knightley Lou is aided in her search for the truth by her ex-photographer boyfriend Ben, played by David Ajala.

“The one thing I really enjoyed about this story was how claustrophobic and intense it felt, in the right way,” Ajala says. “There was a good sexy energy to it, if it was captured properly on camera. And I don’t mind getting involved in a murder mystery because then we’re all armchair detectives trying to figure out who’s who.”

Bulmer’s character represents another shady character in the group for Pearce, who earned an Oscar nomination last year for his stirring performance as another ill-intentioned filthy rich man in Brady Corbett’s The Brutalist.

Pearce says he finds himself drawn to “characters who have inner darkness and things they’re dealing with themselves because they’re just interesting things to play.”

“More than just playing a romantic role,” he adds. “I’m not very good at these things anyway… but yeah, I have to be careful not to get typecast.”

Pearce will next star in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi film “The Dog Stars,” while Knightley is set to host a second season of “Black Doves” for Netflix. Also on the streamer is a new series adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” a text Knightley is very familiar with, having starred in the beloved 2005 film alongside Matthew Macfadyen.

Asked if she had any advice for the new cast – led by Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jack Lowden as Mr Darcy – a smiling Knightley said: “I can’t wait to see it. I mean look, I don’t need words of advice. With this crew, it’s a no-brainer. This crew, this book, what could go wrong? It’s going to be amazing.”