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She appeared in her first international blockbuster at 14, but now, aged just 22, Keira Knightley is already considering leaving the industry.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star, who has become regular gossip magazine fodder, told Elle magazine that she "wanted a life instead."
Constant pressure from the paparazzi and sniping comments about her weight have driven the actress to consider abandoning films.
She said: "The celebrity thing is completely crazy. I think I just have to move away or give it up altogether."
Knightley, who has been at the heart of the size zero debate, explained she was "devastated" that photographs of her slight frame were used on websites promoting anorexia.
She added: "I hate the fact that naturally thin women like me are becoming scapegoats for mental illness."
The actress's weight has long been a source of controversy.
The mother of 19-year-old anorexic Sophie Muzurek has blamed her daughter's death on photos of celebrities like Knightley.
In her latest interview she claims she has tried to get bigger, explaining how she wanted to be "womanly, female and curvy", and describing large Gossip singer Beth Ditto as having "the most amazing body."
Still at an age when most people would be beginning their careers, Knightley says she is considering "just giving the whole thing up." With a phobia of the red carpet and a loathing of celebrity parties, she said her idea of a good night was hanging out with her mates.
However, at 22 she has no definite plans of what else she might do.
She commented: "I couldn't have kids in the situation I'm in now. But I could just do something else. That's probably what's going to happen. I made a decision very recently that I want a life instead."
Knightley, who is currently in filming, was unavailable for comment on the interview.
The star has been acting since she was seven and says "acting was the only thing I ever wanted to do." But after a trekking trip in the remote Himalayas she decided it was becoming too much.
"I spent 10 days in a place where no one knew me or cared what films I'd been in. I got some total peace and balance and see myself as a tiny insignificant speck - something I really needed."
Knightley's first film appearance was in 1999 alongside Natalie Portman in the international blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, but she rose to fame after starring in the English film Bend It Like Beckham.
Since then, she has appeared in six blockbuster movies including Pirates of The Caribbean and Love, Actually, which she starred in when she was just 18.
Last year she was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe after her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice.
Knightley's most recent film was the 2006 blockbuster Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, but now she says "I'm just not so hungry anymore."
The British actress had been on a break from filming since November, but won't be getting a chance to leave the movie business any time soon.
She has already begun work on her new film Best Time of Our Lives, written by her mother, Sharman Macdonald.
Major parts have also been agreed in the literary adaptations of Silk and Atonement, which will be filmed later this year.
- INDEPENDENT
