Keira Knightley battles through Broadway debut with sprained wrist

On stage: Keira Knightley in Thérèse Raquin on Broadway
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Tom Teodorczuk30 October 2015
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Keira Knightley battled through her Broadway debut with a sprained wrist — and says looking after her six-month-old daughter has meant the injury has taken longer to heal.

The actress, 30, gave birth to Edie this year and hurt herself during the preview period for the adaptation of Thérèse Raquin, Emile Zola’s tale of adultery and murder.

Her husband James Righton was at the opening night of the play, which stars British actor Matt Ryan and Tony award-winner Gabriel Ebert.

“My wrist is not great, it’s sprained,” Knightley told the Standard.

In the wars: Keira out and about with her injured wrist
Rex Features

“I forgot on stage that I was acting so I launched myself at Gabriel’s character, which is not a bright thing to do when I’m 5ft 7in and he’s 6ft 4in. Sprains take ages to heal and I have a six-month-old baby which means it’s not quite resting in the way that it should, but it’s nearly there.”

She had to miss a performance due to the sprain, while the first preview night was halted after an audience member threw flowers onto the stage and asked her to marry him.

Keira Knightley blown away at Laggies Toronto Film Festival Premiere

1/9

Last night, Knightley said she had felt duty-bound to carry on at the time. “Live theatre is live theatre — you never know what you’re going to get… we know Broadway tickets are very expensive so the most important thing for us is to make sure that people haven’t wasted their money and that we’re professional at all times.”

Zola’s 1867 novel was adapted by Evening Standard Theatre Award-nominated writer Helen Edmundson. Her play is directed by Evan Cabnet at Manhattan’s Studio 54 theatre.

It is Knightley’s first stage role in almost five years and has received mixed reviews.

The Associated Press said the London-born star is “wonderful as she goes from odd duck... to lip-quivering lust”. But the Wall Streeet Journal said she gives a “flat, underprojected performance you’d expect from an untrained Broadway debutante”.

Knightley said she was drawn to the role of Thérèse, adding: “When something like this comes along, you go ‘Ooh I can sink my teeth into it’, and not just be a supportive girlfriend or wife, which can get rather boring.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in