Keira Knightley reveals why she moved on from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise

Keira Knightley, who starred as Elizabeth Swann in each of the first three installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, has revealed why she decided to move on from Walt Disney Pictures’ immensely successful adventure fantasy film series.

The Academy Award-nominated actress cited the hectic shooting schedule for the second and third films in the franchise – 2006’s Dead Man’s Chest and 2007’s At World’s End – as the primary factor that resulted in her departure.

“Doing it solidly for two years at that time was definitely enough,” she admitted in an interview with USA Today. “And I mostly just wanted to do something else.”

Knightley, who made an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night, took part in the interview to promote Last Night, a drama romance film in which she stars alongside Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes, and Guillaume Canet.

After starring in the Pirates of the Caribbean series and maintaining a rigorous workload in a slew of other projects, Knightley took some much-needed time off in an attempt to return to normalcy.

“The thing about acting is it does require life because you have to have things to draw from,” she said. “I very much felt like I’d hit a brick wall and was regurgitating as opposed to actually finding anything new.”

Though Knightley will not be joining Johnny Depp on the promotional tour for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, she will be returning to the limelight in several upcoming projects.

The accomplished British actress stars alongside Viggo Mortenson in Universal Pictures’ upcoming psychoanalytical film, A Dangerous Method, and she has signed on to star opposite Steve Carell in the dark romantic comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.