John Carney Apologizes for Slamming His ‘Begin Again’ Star Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley in ‘Begin Again’ (Photo: Weinstein)

By Alex Stedman, Variety

Director John Carney has apologized for publicly criticizing Keira Knightley’s acting in his film Begin Again, calling his own comments “petty, mean and hurtful.”

“Recently, in a phone interview, the conversation turned to a discussion about a past film, ‘Begin Again,’ starring Kiera (sic) Knightley,” he wrote in a note posted to Twitter. “I said a number of things about Keira which were petty, mean and hurtful. I’m ashamed of myself that I could say such things and I’ve been trying to account for what they say about me. In trying to pick holes in my own work, I ended up blaming someone else. That’s not only bad directing, that’s shoddy behaviour, that I am not in any way proud of. It’s arrogant and disrespectful. Keira was nothing but professional and dedicated during that film and she contributed hugely to its success. I wrote to Keira personally to apologise, but I wanted to publicly, and unreservedly apologise to her fans and friends and anyone else who I have offended. It’s not something that I could ever justify, and will never repeat.”

In an interview with the Independent published this past weekend, Carney slammed Knightley’s work on the movie, saying “I’ll never make a film with supermodels again.”

Related: Directors Defend Keira Knightley After John Carney Criticism

“It’s not like I hate the Hollywood thing, but I like to work with curious, proper film actors as opposed to movie stars,” he said in the interview, promoting his new movie Sing Street. “I don’t want to rubbish Keira, but you know it’s hard being a film actor and it requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don’t think she’s ready for yet and I certainly don’t think she was ready for on that film.”

Carney praised her co-stars in the 2013 movie, Mark Ruffalo and Adam Levine, and said “Keira’s thing is to hide who you are and I don’t think you can be an actor and do that.”

Since the interview was published, a number of directors came to Knightley’s defense. Mark Romanek, who directed Knightley in Never Let Me Go, tweeted that the actress “was utterly spectacular on every level.” “I have no clue what this guy is talking about,” he added, along with the hashtag “#ArrogantS—head.” Ava DuVernay also tweeted a scolding at Carney, writing, “There are actors that directors won’t call again for whatever reason. But don’t disparage them in the press. C’mon.”

Read More: Sundance Film Review: ‘Sing Street’

Watch a trailer for ‘Begin Again:’