Keira Knightley has revealed she wants to quit acting, saying: "I want a life instead."

The 22-year-old Pirates Of The Caribbean star said the pressures of fame have become too much to bear.

And she is "devastated" at becoming a poster girl for anorexia because of her slender frame.

Speaking to Elle magazine, Knightley said of her career: "The celebrity thing is completely crazy. I think I just have to move away or give it up altogether.

BACKGROUND

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

• Pirates III: Bye-bye, captain

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• I want to quit acting, says Keira Knightley

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"I couldn't have kids in the situation I'm in now. But I could just do something else. That's probably what's going to happen. I'm just not so hungry any more. I made a decision very recently that I wanted a life instead."

Knightley said she reached her decision after a trekking holiday in the Himalayas.

"I spent 10 days in a place where no-one knew me or cared what films I'd been in," she said. "I got to have some total peace and balance and see myself as a tiny insignificant speck - something I really needed."

The actress spoke of her upset over pictures of her appearing on pro-anorexia websites.

There were fears for her health when she was photographed looking very thin in a striped bikini.

Knightley said the "physically gruelling" film schedule for Pirates Of The Caribbean had caused her to lose weight.

She eventually went to a doctor asking how to become a size 12 - but he told her she would have to eat unhealthy food and stop exercising.

"Basically, my body type is naturally thin. There is nothing I can do about it," she said, adding: "I hate the fact that naturally thin women like me are becoming scapegoats for promoting a mental illness."

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