Keira Knightley Prepares For 'A Dangerous Method' Spanking Scene With Vodka Shots

With an Academy Award nomination under her belt and upcoming movies that plunge into the worlds of Freud, Jung and Tolstoy, Keira Knightely is no slouch when it comes to serious acting.

She sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about how she slipped into the role of Sabine Spielrein, a Russian woman suffering from heavy psychological issues, for her upcoming film.

In a more harrowing scene of David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," Knightley's character was placed in a very compromising position. She was to be spanked.

The scene was almost uncomfortable enough for the actress to turn down the role that may very well earn her another Oscar nod.

"When I first read the script, I thought, 'The script was fascinating, and it's David, and I really want to work with David, but I read those two scenes and just went, 'I don't think that I can do that,' particularly because it's the age of the Internet; it's gonna be everywhere; I don't want that out there'... I phoned him up to really turn it down... I said to him, 'Look, I love you, I love the script, I love the character, but I really don't know that I can play those scenes'... He said, 'Look, if I'm gonna do them, then they're gonna be clinical; they're not gonna be sexy, they're not gonna be voyeuristic in that way.' And I thought, 'Okay, well I can understand that. As long as it's clinical and it's not some, sort of, weird sexy spanking thing.'"

So the preparation for this, it would take something beyond creativity or professionalism. It took something special: Vodka.

"There was a box which he hit, so he was nowhere near me, thank God! I did actually say to Michael before one of the scenes -- I was like, 'I've got a security guard outside. You touch me and he's gonna break your legs!' And he was like, 'Keira, you're tied to a bed. You're not really in a position to say that.' I said, 'I guess you're right.'... [I did] a couple of shots of vodka -- definitely -- beforehand, and then a couple of glasses of champagne as a celebration of never having to do that again!"

WATCH:

For more, click over to The Hollywood Reporter.

Comments

[AppleBaby]

08:39 AM on 09/15/2011

It's Michael Fassbender, who wouldn't want to be spanked by him. Really.

[Anna Maria Crcamo]

11:38 PM on 09/14/2011

LOVED IT! She's so classy and nice and in my opinion the best young actress out there!

[DARK STAR]

11:11 PM on 09/14/2011

She certainly got spanked when she ditched "Pirates," IMO.

[BK813]

05:29 PM on 09/14/2011

Her "hotness" factor just dropped like it fell off a cliff.

[Max Shaw]

03:24 PM on 09/14/2011

what a baby.

[lalilyman]

02:49 PM on 09/14/2011

really?, what a prude.

[Rolex Rider]

02:43 PM on 09/14/2011

I must admit, I've thought about spanking Keira myself a few times.

[pleblian]

01:44 PM on 09/14/2011

26 years of age, with that kind of talent, remarkable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keira_Knightley

[petit chaton]

09:37 AM on 09/14/2011

Two of MY favorite things to do!

[Eric Shin]

09:26 AM on 09/14/2011

Why can't she just get a stunt butt? If I were to do gay porn that is what I would request.

[danivers]

09:17 AM on 09/14/2011

"I did actually say to Michael..."

Who's Michael? And why doesn't HuffPo have any decent editors?

[pleblian]

01:46 PM on 09/14/2011

Yah!

And who was she portraying?

[OlHippie]

02:55 PM on 09/14/2011

Michael Fassbender plays Carl Jung, Kiera plays Sabina Spielrein; one of the first female psychoanalysists, and lover of Jung.

[AppleBaby]

08:39 AM on 09/15/2011

exactly. who doesn't know who MICHAEL is, my god, the man is a god.

[Pelican1983]

02:20 AM on 09/14/2011

I didn't know Bethanny Frankel put out Skinnygirl vodka. Cuz if not, this never happened.

[Issaquah79]

01:15 AM on 09/14/2011

For hot spanking scenes watch 'Secretary'. It's one of my favorite movies. Romantic, sexy, sad, and sweet.

[Pelican1983]

02:24 AM on 09/14/2011

And to see James Spader when he was hot and not fat! Maggie G. was great, as well. In fact, I've never seen her better.

[signgrrl]

01:05 PM on 09/14/2011

hmm, might have to add that to the netflix list - only seen it about 4 times . . . . ;-)

[mmerteuil]

10:24 PM on 09/13/2011

Michael Fassbender is welcome to tie me up at any time, i won't call the security guards, i promisse. And i cant wait to watch this film. Sabina was such a fascinating character. Plus, Fassbender, Mortensen and Cassel in the same movie (and directed by Cronenberg) has to be sheer perfection.

[3Nox]

08:59 PM on 09/13/2011

Are the people who used that thumbnail for the story aware that it's from an ad she did for domestic abuse? It just doesn't seem appropriate to use it when promoting a character that has a sexual fetish involving spanking. Unless I'm mistaken. In the ad, she was definitely wearing a green sweater like that.

[3Nox]

09:05 PM on 09/13/2011

I just watched the ad again, and that shot is definitely there. How tasteless HP writers.