Keira Knightley on Christmas-apocalypse movie ‘Silent Night’ and her ‘sweet’ but ‘creepy’ encounter with ‘Love Actually’ fan

Keira Knightley has completed one particular extremely memorable Christmas film, Richard Curtis’s endlessly meme-able, beloved and star-studded 2003 rom-com ensemble Appreciate Essentially. She’s also done a unforgettable apocalypse comedy, Lorene Scafaria’s 2012 two-hander Trying to find a Friend for the Stop of the Globe, which paired the actress with Steve Carell as strangers on a street vacation as an asteroid nears Earth.

Her hottest movie rather impressively manages to mix both of those of these genres. Silent Night, prepared and directed by Camille Griffin, imagines a common Xmas Eve supper get together hosted by Nell (Knightley), her partner Simon (Matthew Goode) and sons in a British countryside property which is attended by a group of their psychological baggage-carrying faculty mates. Only, as we’ll come across out, it is not Christmas Eve — it is the eve of an Extinction Level Function on Earth. As a rapid-moving toxic fuel is speedily wiping out humanity, the pals have collected the night time prior to given that they’ve all agreed to choose governing administration-issued “exit pills” to keep away from in any other case horrific fatalities.

As dark as that seems, Griffin (mom of Jojo Rabbit breakout Roman Griffin Davis, solid alongside with his serious-lifestyle twin brothers as Nell and Simon’s children) mines a good deal of laughs from close instances. And Knightley, the 36-calendar year-outdated Bend It Like Beckham and Pirates of the Caribbean alum who recently announced she’s battling COVID-19 with her have spouse and children, delivers a further winning functionality as a mother seeking to keep it all together.

The two-time Oscar nominee (Satisfaction & Prejudice, The Imitation Activity) talked to Yahoo Leisure about her most up-to-date apocalypse movie, laughing to keep from crying and the most unforgettable (if not incredibly uncomfortable) working experience she’s had with a Love Truly superfan.

Yahoo Entertainment: One of the final situations we spoke was for Looking for a Close friend for the End of the Planet, your apocalypse comedy with Steve Carell. What retains bringing you back again to the apocalypse?

Keira Knightley: Well, I signify, it can be fairly extraordinary, just isn’t it? You know what else I obtain fascinating about these two movies is it truly is two female author-administrators. And I truly feel like there’s a thing amazingly feminine about this way of seeking at the apocalypse. No person can run, you have to sit in this instant and offer with it. Result in I really feel like frequently, not often, but the male edition of this would be that you’d be trying to correct it, you’d be attempting to not die. And in equally of these, you’re heading like, “This is it” [laughs].

With this a person in distinct, I think it can be getting that type of dim aspect of the maternal psyche… I was extremely expecting when I initially read through this script and I discovered it absolutely hilarious. There’s this amazing factor when you’re expecting or where you very first have a child in which, certainly you might be bringing lifestyle into the world, but you come to be amazingly knowledgeable of dying. And you become incredibly knowledgeable of how fragile that life is and that accountability that you have to guard that lifestyle and how conveniently you could get rid of it. I experience like this truly spoke to that… But I also liked, currently being a parent, that you’re acquiring your past night time on Earth. Yet you even now have a responsibility as a mum or dad and you might be even now trapped in your family members dynamic.

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Appropriate, and your twins are even now arguing more than who will get far more Coke in their glass as the world’s about to close.

I feel like there is a purpose that gallows humor is called gallows humor… You might be waiting around for a little something that you know is heading to occur and you know it really is inevitable, but it is really also inconceivable. So you go via the times like, “Oh, this is truly unhappy, and this is really terrible.” But then you are continue to there, and you’re however with your mates. And so you are however acquiring a funny time and you might be still back again in the type of dynamic that you happen to be normally in. And then you instantly keep in mind [what’s happening]. I believed all of that felt quite serious and pretty genuine to any variety of incredibly spectacular instant that I have knowledgeable in my life. It’s like getting out that anyone died and ending up laughing, mainly because it is really so difficult to envision that you have this bizarre [reaction].

In the movie the world is ending simply because of this quite fast-going ecological disaster. There is a great line from 1 of the children who scolds the grownups for “not listening to Greta,” of training course a reference to the younger environmental activist Greta Thunberg. With every little thing going on correct now and what would seem like a large amount of inaction to pending local climate adjust catastrophe, did you look at this as a really noticeable cautionary tale?

Oh yeah, undoubtedly. And which is also what I preferred about it. When we were speaking about undertaking it, it was absolutely because of ecological catastrophe and, you know, the prospective destruction of the planet and the human race not current any more — you know, all that things. I individually come across it absolutely terrifying, so yeah it was a hundred percent a cautionary tale. And it was also a way of [recognizing] the kids in this movie are really much of a era of Greta Thunbergs who are activists and who are attempting to repair it and who are striving to press. And, you know, it is absolutely condemning my generation and the generation above for our inaction. And it is awful. But there is that layer of the film, and purposely so.

On a lighter be aware, in this is also a return for you to Xmas flicks. How do you look back again at Enjoy Actually 18 years later on?

I think I have nevertheless only witnessed it when. You know, I imagine it is remarkable. It was so exciting simply because when it initially arrived out, it did not do what anyone felt like it was likely to do. It did not really do that perfectly. And so the truth that around the years — and genuinely in The us, to start with — received this astounding pursuing and this massive variety of life later on, it was genuinely extraordinary, you know? It’s incredible, it’s a Xmas basic. And as anything that failed to do as effectively as every person considered it would when it initial came out, I imagine which is a really incredible matter. 

So you’re not the sentimental form who desires to revisit it over the vacations?

No, it’s just that I never observe any of my movies [laughs]. I just you should not like watching myself. It’s a bit bizarre. I am sure it can be wholly great and every person enjoys it and which is so wonderful. But it’s not just that a single, I pretty much only see most of my movies about the moment.

I’m sure you’ve observed some of the spoofs and memes, while, involving your popular playing cards on the doorstep scene.

You know, I did essentially get trapped in site visitors the moment [in London] and a person in the car up coming to me did the full sign issue. It was fairly creepy, but it was also fairly [laughs]… It was a little bit uncomfortable being caught in targeted visitors future it. But it was also fairly sweet, there was absolutely nothing [scary].

So it was that perfect mixture of sweet… and creepy. 

And creepy, yeah [laughs]. I suggest, it would have been significantly better if I could have just pushed straight off, but I could not. We were being very a great deal caught there for awhile.

Silent Night time is now in theaters and on AMC+.