Knightley, 27, who has shown the dark side of her personality in movies including 'A Dangerous Method' and 'Anna Karenina', said she is always drawn to how challenging a film is for her, reported Showbiz spy.
"I try to do pieces that are as challenging to me as possible. Now one day that could be a romantic comedy or the Hollywood thriller that I'm currently doing ('Jack Ryan'), but lately they have taken a much more European, kind of a darker tilt.
"But it's been more about what I wanted to explore, the worlds I wanted to explore," she said.
However, no matter what she does, Knightley makes an effort not to engage with critics too much, and instead has a close circle of people she trusts.
"I think you have to be careful where you take your notes from. So I've got about three or four people I talk to, and I pretty much ignore the rest.
"In watching yourself, it's very difficult to remove vanity - you think, 'God, I look disgusting'. At the end of the day, you can't listen to everyone's opinion or else you'd be very, very confused."
