Entertainment

Keira Knightley explains why she banned some Disney princesses for her daughter

The actress also said that her three-year-old might be too scared of her new film which revisits The Nutcracker fable.
The actress also said that her three-year-old might be too scared of her new film which revisits The Nutcracker fable.

Keira Knightley has explained her decision to ban her three-year-old daughter from watching some of the older Disney princess films.

The actress previously revealed that Edie, her child with husband James Righton, is not allowed to watch Cinderella and The Little Mermaid because the lead characters are not good role models.

Arriving at the premiere of her new Disney film The Nutcracker And The Four Realms, Knightley told the Press Association: “I love Frozen, I am 100% Team Frozen and Team Moana.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms European Premiere – London
Mackenzie Foy (left) and Keira Knightley at the European premiere of The Nutcracker And The Four Realms in London (David Parry/PA)

“Moana is big in our house, Inside Out is big in our house, I just wonder what Elsa (from Frozen) would say to Ariel (from The Little Mermaid) and Cinderella because Elsa has some serious opinions about Anna (her sister in Frozen) going off with a guy that she’s only just met and saying she would marry him.

“She’s is like ‘absolutely that is not OK’ and in fact everyone in Frozen is not OK with that.

“What would Elsa say to Ariel, who gives up her voice for a man? A man, by the way, she has only seen dance round a ship and then drown!

“And it’s 100% amazing of Ariel to save the guy, I’m totally up for that, but what would Elsa make of that?

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms European Premiere – London
Richard E Grant, Misty Copeland, Ellie Bamber, Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy, Jayden Fowora-Knight and Omid Djalili (David Parry/PA)

“I think Elsa would be like: ‘Babe, you’ve got to get him know him better, don’t give up your voice yet’.”

Knightley, who plays the Sugar Plum Fairy in the new telling of the classic Nutcracker story, said she is excited to share the film with her daughter when she’s older.

She said: “She is three and she might be a bit frightened of all of this. I was when I was three, because I was three when I first saw the ballet and I hid under my seat so I think I might wait a couple of years until she’s a bit older.

“But then maybe other people have three-year-olds who would be completely fine with it and maybe it’s just mine who would be frightened.”

Knightley said the role of the pink-haired flying fairy gave her the chance to “become something silly and look like a cake with wings” after a particularly strenuous role on stage.

She said: “They just offered it to me and I had just spent four months doing Therese Raquin on Broadway and that is a psychotic character who murders everyone and then kills herself and then they said ‘do you want to play the sugar plum fairy?’ and it was the antidote to Therese Raquin and the opportunity to be silly and pink and glittery and not subtle in any way was amazing.”

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms European Premiere – London
Richard E Grant at the premiere (David Parry/PA)

Richard E Grant, who plays Shiver, a regent of one of the four realms, said: “It is an extraordinarily strong story that has survived over a century and there is a good reason for that. The idea of unlocking and animating your toys is so innate to us.”

Grant described himself as a “Christmas-aholic”, adding: “First of December and the tree goes up.”

He added: “I eat Christmas pudding once a month. In the January sales they are giving them away. I had one last week so I’m in my Spanx now.”

The Nutcracker And The Four Realms is released in UK cinemas on November 2.