Knightley 'Terrified' By Stage Debut

The Pirates of the Caribbean actress is appearing in a revival of Moliere's classic play The Misanthrope, alongside Damian Lewis and Tara Fitzgerald, which opens in London on Thursday (17Dec09).

Knightley fears her performance in the production, which runs until March (10), will be hit with a slew of negative reviews, but she's determined not to let the critics put her off.

She says, "(I know I will be) burned alive (by the critics). I'm not coming into it with any great expectations of coming away with great reviews. I thought if I don't do theatre right now, I think I'm going to start being too terrified to do it. So I just thought, okay, dive in and give it a go. If my best isn't good enough, then so be it."