Keira Knightley Interview 2 by Martyn Palmer Previous In this version of the enduring Arthurian myth, we are in the Dark Ages - as opposed to Medieval times where we usually find Arthur and his knights - and writers David Franzoni and John Lee Hancock have fashioned a fascinating, gripping story. The writers have used recent archeological clues and evidence that suggest that Arthur, if he existed, could have been a Roman general called Artorious, who commanded a band of Sarmation warriors - or Knights of the Round  Table. The heavily outnumbered Sarmations had fought a noble battle when the Romans invaded their homeland in the Ukraine and in exchange for their lives, the fighters were incorporated into the Roman military for generations to come - each young man pressed into serving Rome for 15 years in a far flung, hostile outpost called Britain. King Arthur starts at a pivotal moment in history - as the crumbling Roman Empire begins to pull out of Britain But Arthur (Clive Owen) and his band of Sarmation knights - Lancelot, Galahad, Bors, Tristran and Gawain - are given one last “mission from hell”, to rescue a Roman nobleman and his family who are stranded behind enemy lines. And as Rome prepares to leave, the brutal Saxons, sensing a power vacuum, invade the island from the north, determined to enslave the Brits themselves.  Guinevere (Knightley) is Queen of the Wodes - the band of Picts and Celts, the British natives - who will have to fight the Saxons for their very survival. And she knows, that if she can persuade Arthur - himself half Roman, half Brit - and his knights to stay and fight with her, she has a chance of saving her people. Arthur, in turn, may well realise his own destiny. Keira, now 19, lives in London. This interview was conducted on set for King Arthur in Ireland. Keira spots long black tresses almost down to her waist. Q Is your Guinevere what we would expect from previous stories? A Hopefully not! (laughs) We are trying to make reality out of the myth and in our story the enemy of Rome are the Picts and in Pictish society it was actually matriarchal, the blood line went through the women and therefore women fought with equal standing with men.. Q Is that true? A Yeah. So there you go (laughs). So Guinevere is absolutely definitely a leader and she is a warrior  which is wonderful. So we are bringing that in which has never been done before, so that makes it much more exciting and a far stronger story from my point of view.. Q So she's not girly girl waiting for one of the knights to come and rescue her? A Absolutely not. No! (laughs) No, she has plans of her own, reasons why she wants Arthur on her side and she is very politically astute. She should be terribly interesting - fingers crossed, making no predictions, but that's the idea anyway! (laughs). Next		Home Interviews Antoine Fuqua Interview King Arthur Interview Arv Grewal Interview Asia Argento Interview Behind the Scenes of "War of the Worlds" Bernie Goldmann Interview Clive Owen Interview Dakota Fanning Interview Dennis Hopper Interview George A Romero Interview Greg Nicotero Interview The Hulk Press Conference Ang Lee Press Conference Ioan Gruffudd Interview John Leguizamo Interview Kathleen Kennedy Interview Keira Knightley Interview