With Sienna Miller set to play an evil assassin known as The Baroness in the upcoming action flick G.I. Joe and Keira Knightley dressing up as a duchess in a new movie called, well, The Duchess, we had to ask: Which character would win in a battle royal?
“Is she playing a Baroness?” says Keira. “I thought she was playing a baddie in G.I. Joe. Oh, the baddie is The Baroness… Well, I think they’re going to be two very different characters. They’re slightly incomparable I think.”
Trying to uncover any inkling of animosity between these two actors, no matter how silly, seems to be something of a fool’s errand. Starring together in John Maybury’s The Edge Of Love, a “ménage a quatre” love story about Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and the ladies in his life, seems to have made these good mates even tighter than ever.
“She’s a wonderful girl and a wonderful actress and I’m very privileged to have been given the chance to play such a strong female character opposite her,” said Keira of her co-star.
Talking to us at the movie’s premiere in London’s Mayfair, Keira and Sienna, who play on-screen mates Caitlin Thomas and Vera Killick, were in an upbeat mood about the film – a project that has garnered both ladies a fair amount of critical acclaim.
“Do you really think I would think twice about taking on a free-loving, free-spirited young woman?” says Sienna on what drew her to the role. “Do you think I would have a problem with that? I’m playing a role in a film with one of my best friends, Keira, alongside Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys, in a film playing a strong, independent woman who has a huge story arc. It was a privilege.”
“Absolutely,” concurs Keira, “I fell in love in Vera, I thought she was a wonderful character. She’s the kind of person who smiles when she wants to cry and I just found her to be a fascinating person to play.”
“The great thing about this film is that although all the characters are flawed, I mean massively flawed, you can relate to them,” continues Sienna. “People who have been in difficult positions may not always respond in the most mature and perfect way but it’s not a popcorn movie, it’s a movie about real people and real life.”
For John Maybury, it gave the director the chance to work with Keira for the second time.
“Keira actually came to me with this film and I said no,” says Maybury. “On The Jacket (the psychological thriller that was their previous collaboration), I told her I didn’t want her and she convinced me to have her. This time around she sent me the script and I said I didn’t want to do it, so she actually sent me poem to try to seduce me and that didn’t work. Then she sent me a nice bottle of Champagne and that did the trick.”
“They’re both amazing in this film. Sienna has given great performances in not very good films, this time around she’s giving a mind-blowing performance in a very good film. The two of the together, contrary to the tabloid lesbian lover romp stories, actually play two very complex, sophisticated, damaged women.
“It’s all down to the complexity of Sharman MacDonald’s (Keira’s real-life mum) script, she wrote two very complex characters.
“I can’t think of anther film, maybe Thelma & Louise, that have great parts for woman and these are two really spectacular female actors and they really lay it on with a trowel.”
The Edge Of Love goes on general release today.