By Nadia Mendoza

Last updated at 3:23 PM on 16th November 2011

Dreaming of fame and fortune is high on everyone's list of ambitions, but when you can't leave your own front door all you crave is anonymity.

Keira Knightley has revealed she was housebound while making the Pirates Of The Caribbean films, but paparazzi interest has now subsided.

The British actress says she can now walk through the lobby of a hotel relatively incognito without fears of being hounded.

Settled: Keira Knightley, seen here in New York ahead of a US talk show appearance in May, says she can now walk through a hotel without unwanted attention

Settled: Keira Knightley, seen here in New York after a US talk show appearance in May, says she can now walk through a hotel without unwanted attention

Keira said: 'I was different then to now, you change with your experiences... but my level of fame is not as big as Brad Pitt’s, thankfully

'At the time of the Pirates movies I had a crazy time where very simple things were very difficult.
'I had about 20 guys standing on my doorstep, so going for groceries became incredibly difficult. I just didn’t go out.'

She told the Daily Mirror: 'Since then, I’ve been doing different films and life has become easier. I can now walk through the lobby of a hotel.'

Height of her fame: Keira, pictured here with Johnny Depp in Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, says she could not leave her house

The 26-year-old beauty, who has been dating James Righton of The Klaxons for nine months, also credited alcohol with easing the burden of sex scenes with Michael Fassbender in latest film A Dangerous Method.

Knightley plays a masochistic mental patient who has an affair with her psychoanalyst Dr Carl Jung, portrayed by the Hunger actor.

She said: 'We were both very nervous about those scenes because they're not nice.

Intimate scenes: Keira nearly turned down her role in A Dangerous Method as the sex scenes with Michael Fassbender were so explicit

'He’s absolutely wonderful. We had a couple of shots of vodka before doing the scene and a couple of glasses of champagne afterwards.'

She also revealed that when she initially read the screenplay, she decided against playing the role of Sabina Spielrein.

The Bend It Like Beckham star says she 'loved the script', but could not face the explicit scenes and phoned director David Cronenberg to decline.

However, due to a mutual agreement they found a formula to make it 'as shocking as possible without going over the top.'

Keira's follow-up film will see her play Anna Karenina, alongside Jude Law who will play her onscreen husband.