Keira Knightley’s career is as dreamlike as the fantasy world she likes to live out on screen. 

“It’s pure escapism,” exclaims the 23-year-old actress about her penchant for doing period pieces. “When I watch films that I’m in, I want to be completely taken away from myself. I want to be in another place, where I’m not worried about the fact that I haven’t paid my mobile phone bill.” 

Of course, her reality is most people’s fairytale.

At just 20, Knightley became the third youngest actress nominated for an Oscar for her role in Pride and Prejudice. And any newbie would die for a debut packing as much one-two star power punch as hers. In the span of one year she came out with the international hits Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of the Caribbean and Love Actually, which, as she says in her delicate British accent, “did brilliantly well.” 

Her success has a lot to do with smart decision-making. In Hollywood, where most roles for women are either archetypal wives or girlfriends, Knightley manages to play strong, complex female leads. Her latest, Georgiana, the duchess of Devonshire in The Duchess, was labelled the Victorian party girl, yet the real-life Georgiana was an idealistic fashion icon longing for love and to change the political regime. At the same time she was vulnerable and oppressed — her best friend stole her husband and the three lived together in the most torturous setup. But instead of viewing Georgiana as a tragic figure, Knightley finds her inspiring. 

“What happens to her is enough to send most people to the loony bin, and yet she keeps walking forward,” Knightley says. 

The London native says it’s the strength of the character that draws her to a role. “If I think about my favorite characters, I go back to more ’40s era characters than the recent ones. Your Bette Davis, your Katharine Hepburn characters — women with incredible wit and just sort of,” she pauses to laugh, “fighting women.”

The chuckle is in response to her own reputation as someone who’s not going back down. For The Duchess, Knightley refused a Photoshop breast enhancement job like the one she spoke out against in the ads for King Arthur. Last year, Knightley sued Britain’s Daily Mail for running photos of her beside an article about a girl who died from anorexia. And she likes to curse. About wearing one of the huge hats she kept from the film: “Can you imagine? Walking down the street in London … really f---ing subtle that would be.” 

And while we’re sure the headstrong actress wouldn’t be as naïve as Georgiana, both ladies have their “fashion icon” status in common. Just check Knightley out on the September issue of Vogue. 

“Fashion again goes back to the escapism,” she says. “You can create who you want to be, not who you are. And there’s something that’s quite fun about that.”