Knightley hated Karenina character

Keira Knightley has revealed that she sometimes disliked her Anna Karenina alter-ego, to the point that she wanted "to shake her".

The Oscar-nominated actress stars as the titular character in Joe Wright's big-screen adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's novel, alongside Jude Law and Aaron Johnson.

"She's a wonderful character, but very strange and complex. I found her a challenging person. I wanted to shake her and tell her to pull herself together. There were times when I thought, I really hate this person," she told the Daily Mail.

"She is needy and manipulative and then there are sides of her that are vulnerable and innocent, and I sometimes think it's the innocence that pulls her down. She will not see reality and when she does, it destroys her."

Keira added: "You completely see where she's coming from, but you want to choke her at the same time because at no point can she see what is right in front of her. Love is never enough for her."

The 27-year-old - who is engaged to Klaxons singer-keyboardist James Righton - admitted that she would be up for starring in a blockbuster again, following her stint on the Pirates Of The Caribbean films.

"As long as it has a really wonderful story. I haven't found one yet," she said.

Anna Karenina opens in cinemas on September 7, and will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.