Why Keira Knightley draws old men's faces all over her scripts: 'I get into a really meditative s...

The &34;Pride and Prejudice&34; star says her husband and friends give her photos to inspire her sketches, which she uses to help her learn lines. Why Keira Knightley draws old men's faces all over her scripts: 'I get into a really meditative state' The &34;Pride and Prejudice&34; star says her husband and friends give her photos to inspire her sketches, which she uses to help her learn lines. By Wesley Stenzel :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/WesleyStenzelauthorphoto32b61793a2784639af623f2ae091477e.jpg) Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at . He began writing for EW in 2022.

The "Pride and Prejudice" star says her husband and friends give her photos to inspire her sketches, which she uses to help her learn lines.

Why Keira Knightley draws old men's faces all over her scripts: 'I get into a really meditative state'

The "Pride and Prejudice" star says her husband and friends give her photos to inspire her sketches, which she uses to help her learn lines.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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November 22, 2025 11:32 a.m. ET

Keira Knightley in London on Sept. 25, 2025. Credit:

Lia Toby/Variety via Getty

Keira Knightley can't stop drawing old men.

The *Pride and Prejudice* star explained her unusual habit in a new interview, revealing how sketching is part of her process for memorizing dialogue for movie and TV projects.

"I've always loved drawing," Knightley told *The Guardian*. "I draw when I learn my lines. They're normally old men's faces with very detailed lines. For some reason — I think it's because I'm dyslexic — so I have to get the words off the page as quickly as possible."

The *Atonement* actress said she reads the entire script aloud and studies the material as an audio file. "I record the whole script, then listen to it while doing these quite intricate drawings to get the lines into my head," she explained. "I get into a really meditative state, which I love. My scripts are full of pictures of old men's faces."

Keira Knightley in Paris on July 8, 2025.

Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty

Knightley added that her loved ones have noticed her sketching tendencies, and they sometimes provide her with material for her next portrait.

"Now that my husband and friends know I do it, they collect pictures of old men's faces to give me," she said, noting that she doesn't think she'd fare well with a live subject. "I don't think I'd like to go on Sky's Portrait Artist of the Year, because then I couldn't learn my lines. If I've got some dude sitting in the room, that wouldn't work at all."

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The *Pirates of the Caribbean* actress recently published a picture book for children, titled *I Love You Just the Same*, which she illustrated herself. The book came about as the result of a bedtime routine with her daughter.

"My oldest child does not particularly like sleeping," she recalled in an interview with *This Morning* last month. "I would say to her, 'Okay, what drawing would you like?' And she would say, 'Can you draw me a bird? Can you draw me a person? Can I be in it?' And then she'd go to sleep, and when she'd wake up, there'd be a drawing for her. And so she knew that when she was asleep, I'd been thinking about her because she would get really anxious in the middle of the night."

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After several months of this routine, Knightley had an overwhelming number of drawings.

"I had all of these images, and I thought, 'Oh, well I'll try and put them together for her,' and in the classic five-and-a-half-year-old way, she went, 'But they're not in color, and I don't want them if they're not in color,'" she recalled. "So I put them aside, and then a while later tried to color some of them in and I thought, 'Ooh, I wonder if there's a bit of a story out of it,' and it sort of came from there."**

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Published: November 24, 2025 at 09:38AM on Source: PRIMO MAG

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November 24, 2025

Why Keira Knightley draws old men's faces all over her scripts: 'I get into a really meditative s...

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Filmmaker Jon M. Chu shares details of rehearsing with Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey for Elphaba and Fiyero's big song in the movie musical sequel. Wicked: For Good director explains why 'As Long as You're Mine' isn't intimate from the start Filmmaker Jon M. Chu shares details of rehearsing with Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey for Elphaba and Fiyero's big song in the movie musical sequel. By Patrick Gomez :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/pgomezheadshot25b24b6c6d8948899ca9b24a6a9a6844.jpg) Patrick Gomez is an Executive Editor at . Formerly at People magazine and The A.V.

Filmmaker Jon M. Chu shares details of rehearsing with Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey for Elphaba and Fiyero's big song in the movie musical sequel.

Wicked: For Good director explains why 'As Long as You're Mine' isn't intimate from the start

Filmmaker Jon M. Chu shares details of rehearsing with Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey for Elphaba and Fiyero's big song in the movie musical sequel.

By Patrick Gomez

Patrick Gomez is an Executive Editor at . Formerly at People magazine and The A.V. Club, the Critics Choice and Television Critics Association member has appeared on 'Today,' 'Extra!,' 'Access Hollywood,' 'E! News,' 'CNN,' and 'Nightline,' and can be seen frequently on 'Good Morning America.' Follow the Texas Native at @PatrickGomezLA wherever your media is social for all things 'For All Mankind' 'Top Chef,' and puppy related.

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November 22, 2025 8:00 a.m. ET

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) in 'Wicked: For Good'. Credit:

- *Wicked: For Good* director Jon M. Chu knew the stage blocking for "As Long as You're Mine" wouldn't translate well to the big screen.

- The filmmaker details how moments in rehearsal with Jonathan Bailey and Cynthia Erivo led to some of the film's most touching romantic moments between Fiyero and Elphaba.

- Chu credits Erivo with the idea that Elphaba would have a cozy "nest" that allowed her some "dignity."

Fans of the *Wicked* stage musical know the "As Long as You're Mine" staging well: Elphaba and Fiyero kneeling and wailing right into each other's faces for 3 minutes and 46 seconds. It's a steamy and intimate performance as the two finally act on their long-simmering chemistry.

*Wicked: For Good* director Jon M. Chu knew that wouldn't work on the big screen, and opted for his Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) to take a more demure approach (including one fantastically cozy sweater robe).

"I just felt like, 'Is this movie the type of movie where you just sit and stare at each other and sing?' I was like, 'There's nothing happening,'" Chu tells **. "And passion can only happen.... They didn't have time to.... We need a scene where they go out on a date or something. *How do they know each other?*"

The director says his thinking led to long conversations with Bailey: "It was about 'What do you see that's beautiful about her? She cracked your brain open in movie one, and you've been living in this lie. You've been watching her have this beautiful confidence that you don't have. What happens when you go to her nest?'"

'Wicked: For Good' ending explained: It was almost 'a lot darker and scarier,' says director

'Wicked: For Good' director reveals secret note Fiyero sent Elphaba that explains surprise ending

Chu says he and Bailey posited that Fiyero would "look at her at nest and see how beautiful of a place she made. That's something Cynthia brought to this character that none of us were thinking: dignity. She's like, 'I would have a home, I would make it smell nice. I would put my hair up.' She's not just a caricature that we're making fun of in learning the backstory. It's not fan fiction; this is a real character to her."

In rehearsals, Bailey improvised the moment before the song starts when Fiyero takes off Elphaba's cape.

"He was like, 'I want to take off her cape so she can feel what it feels like to let go,'" Chu recalls of the rehearsal. "And this moment was way longer than what they did in the film. I mean, it was f---ing 20 minutes. They just stared at each other."

Chu recognizes the dissonance of choosing to have Elphaba sing the "aggressive" opening lyric, "Kiss me too fiercely," while actually distancing herself from Fiyero, "But I need somewhere to go. So what if that was her *wish* and her *dream*, but she wasn't sure he was there yet? And what if we got to the point where then he looked at her and looked at even the propaganda that paints her as ugly and evil, and can't believe that she still loves and knows herself? He cannot do that. It's not about him being in love with her, it's about him respecting her at a level that he cannot be alive in the way she's alive."

The director believes the moment where Bailey walks to Elphaba after telling her she's beautiful is "Jonny at his best."

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) in 'Wicked: For Good'.

"And then he gets down on his knees — and she's not on her knees yet — but he gets down and he says, 'I'm not lying.' And then, this again was Cynthia, she responds with a defense mechanism: 'What the f--- are you talking about?' And then he says he's just looking at things a different way. To me, that is earning the moment. That makes it more intimate and sensual, not sexual. And I think that's when you fall for their love. That to me is more sexy than anything else."

"And then he brings her outside, and now they can play," he continues. "She smiles for the first time, and they're singing together. And that's again, Cynthia just finding that right moment: When he says 'falling under your spell,' she laughs, because he's doing this little thing with his eyes and he's making her laugh."

The song concludes with the couple embracing as Elphaba levitates them into the air.

"Like a Warner Bros. cartoon, they fly in the air when they're in love," says Chu. "And then, just as you're almost getting so far away from two people on their knees, you land with them on their knees, together."

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Floating like Superman and Lois could have been cheesy, but Chu credits Bailey for playing the moment just right.

"It's a tricky one because you're like, 'How big do you make his reaction of *Whoa, how'd you do that?* But he's such a good actor. That was the relief, I could just throw crazy ideas at them and they would find the truth in it."

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Published: November 24, 2025 at 09:38AM on Source: PRIMO MAG

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November 24, 2025

Wicked: For Good director explains why 'As Long as You're Mine' isn't intimate from the start

Filmmaker Jon M. Chu shares details of rehearsing with Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey for Elphaba and Fiyero's big song...

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&34;Saturday Night Live&34; is airing reruns while on a brief hiatus before a trio of starstudded episodes. Why SNL isn't new tonight and when it will return &34;Saturday Night Live&34; is airing reruns while on a brief hiatus before a trio of starstudded episodes. By Jillian Sederholm Jillian Sederholm Jillian Sederholm is news director at . She has worked at EW for more than eight years. Jillian has previously worked as a reporter, social media editor, and homepage producer at NBC News, Digital First Media, Newsday, and Random Lengths News. EW's editorial guidelines November 22, 2025 5:00 p.

"Saturday Night Live" is airing reruns while on a brief hiatus before a trio of star-studded episodes.

Why SNL isn't new tonight and when it will return

"Saturday Night Live" is airing reruns while on a brief hiatus before a trio of star-studded episodes.

By Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm is news director at *. *She has worked at EW for more than eight years. Jillian has previously worked as a reporter, social media editor, and homepage producer at NBC News, Digital First Media, Newsday, and *Random Lengths News.*

EW's editorial guidelines

November 22, 2025 5:00 p.m. ET

'SNL' season 51 premiere with musical guest Doja Cat, host Bad Bunny, and special guest Jon Hamm. Credit:

Will Heath/NBC via Getty

*Saturday Night Live* is giving fans a chance to catch up on season 51 as it takes a brief hiatus.

The legendary NBC sketch show is airing reruns of earlier episodes before it closes out 2025 with three star-studded installments in a row in December.

The network previously announced that tonight's episode would be a repeat of the Oct. 4 season premiere hosted by Bad Bunny with musical guest Doja Cat and special appearances by Jon Hamm and *KPop Demon Hunters *singers Rei Ami, Ejae, Audrey Nuna. It also marked the debut of *SNL'*s five new featured players, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska. But make sure to check local listings as college football may preempt things.

On Wednesday, Nov. 26, catch *A Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving* special highlighting memorable Turkey Day-themed sketches from years past, airing from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, and streaming the next day on Peacock.

There will be another repeat episode on Saturday, Nov. 29, as the cast and crew enjoys the chance to celebrate with their loved ones.**

*SNL *will return with a new episode on Saturday, Dec. 6, with fan-favorite host Melissa McCarthy, joined by singer-songwriter Dijon as musical guest. The *Bridesmaids *star has earned an Emmy nomination for each of her five previous episodes, winning for her most recent appearance in 2017. She also memorably popped up a handful of times to play former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Following McCarthy is host Josh O'Connor (*The Crown*)* *with musical guest Lily Allen on Saturday, Dec. 13. O'Connor will be on to support his turn as a hot priest in *Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, *which will be hitting Netflix that weekend. Meanwhile, Allen will be performing songs from her David Harbour divorce album, *West End Girl*, so don't hold your breath for a cameo from the *Stranger Things *cast that week.**

Every 'SNL' season 51 host and musical guest: Melissa McCarthy, Ariana Grande, Cher

Chevy Chase admits it was a 'mistake to leave' 'SNL' in new documentary (exclusive)

Then, the final episode of the year will be fronted by the powerhouse duo of host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher. The *Wicked: For Good* star — currently recovering from Covid — has hosted *SNL* twice previously, including once doing double duty as musical guest, plus two additional stints as a solo musical performer. But for this episode, she'll be handing over music duties to the one and only Cher.

The Oscar winner last sang on the Studio 8H stage in her *SNL* debut on Nov. 21, 1987, although she did perform "If I Could Turn Back Time" during *SNL50: The Homecoming Concert *at Radio City Music Hall in February. **

Bowen Yang and Ariana Grande on 'SNL' on March 9, 2025.

Will Heath/NBC via Getty

Previous episodes this season have been fronted by *SNL* alum Amy Poehler, with cameos from her former costars Tina Fey and Seth Meyers; Sabrina Carpenter doubling as her own musical guest; *Eternity* actor Miles Teller; comedian Nikki Glaser; and *The Running Man* star Glen Powell.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.*****

Season 51 also saw the departures of cast members Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, and Emil Wakim.

"That show was my longest relationship ever," Nwodim said on a recent episode of *Sherri.* "I started to get the seven-year itch and I'm like, we don't have kids, I'm gonna see other people!"

She also reflected on her departure leaving the show without any Black female cast members. "I felt honored to be the seventh Black woman in that cast," she said. "I hope that there will be more Black women. Punkie Johnson came on the show after me. Who knows who else they'll find as they explore and seek out other talents, but I felt honored to represent for us."**

*Saturday Night Live* airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.

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Why SNL isn't new tonight and when it will return

&34;Saturday Night Live&34; is airing reruns while on a brief hiatus before a trio of starstudded episodes. Why SNL is...

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Wicked: For Good stupendifies with $150 million U.S. premiere, shattering multiple box office rec...

The highflying sequel soared past its 2024 predecessor to achieve the biggest opening for a Broadway adaptation in box office history. Wicked: For Good stupendifies with $150 million U.S. premiere, shattering multiple box office records The highflying sequel soared past its 2024 predecessor to achieve the biggest opening for a Broadway adaptation in box office history. By Ryan Coleman :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/RyanColemanauthorphoto0081ce8f0254478080f35972c433877b.jpg) Ryan Coleman Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

The high-flying sequel soared past its 2024 predecessor to achieve the biggest opening for a Broadway adaptation in box office history.

*Wicked: For Good *stupendifies with $150 million U.S. premiere, shattering multiple box office records

The high-flying sequel soared past its 2024 predecessor to achieve the biggest opening for a Broadway adaptation in box office history.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

EW's editorial guidelines

November 23, 2025 5:25 p.m. ET

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Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in 'Wicked: For Good'. Credit:

Giles Keyte/Universal Picture

- *Wicked: For Good *soared past expectations for a stunning $150 million debut at the domestic box office this weekend, and $226 million abroad.

- Those figures exceed those of its 2024 predecessor by leaps and bounds, and earn the film several new box office records, including biggest-ever open for a Broadway adaptation.

- Next weekend, *Wicked: For Good *will have to tussle with *Zootopia 2*, formidable competition in the family film arena.

These are no delusions of grandeur — the weekend box office is truly unlimited!

*Wicked: For Good*, the eagerly anticipated sequel to 2024's blockbuster breakout musical adaptation *Wicked*, finally touched its bubble down for a thrillifying premiere. The *Wizard of Oz *riff that was over two decades in the making earned $150 million at the domestic box office and $226 million abroad, per Comscore.

Releasing in an enormous 4,115 theaters around the country didn't hinder its first impression, as we've seen with other recently releases, like Sydney Sweeney's boxing biopic *Christy, *which broke its own box office records in the other direction. Rather, Universal's strategy to flood the zone turned up a per-theater-average of $36,452, one of the best of the year thus far.

The Tin Man in 'Wicked: For Good'.

Universal Pictures

*For Good*'s opening figures throw a pail of ice-cold water on *Wicked*'s opening performance, too, which scared up $114 million domestically and $164.2 million worldwide.

The sequel broke several records with its much-needed box office win at an otherwise listless Q4. *For Good* has officially earned the titles of biggest opening for a Broadway adaptation in box office history, biggest opening ever for a musical at the November box office, and the biggest opening figures for its stars, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, director Jon M. Chu, composer Stephen Schwartz, and producer Marc Platt.

One record *For Good *couldn't manage to break, however, was best premiere of 2025. *A Minecraft Movie *still clings to that sash, having opened to* *$157 million in April.

Where Glinda and Elphaba fly from here isn't as certain as *For Good*'s opening dominance was. The film has earned a rave 95 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and currently holds an A on Cinemascore, but critics were largely divided on the film's quality, with some penning outright pans. Still, the film certainly has a good chance at going the distance to become the highest-grossing film at the domestic and even perhaps global box office this year.

How 'Wicked: For Good' changed after first movie's success: 'We don't need any of that s---'

How Ke Huy Quan brought his post-Oscar joy to 'goofy' Gary De'Snake in 'Zootopia 2' (exclusive)

It's hard at first to assess the rest of *For Good*'s box office competition after its fearsome takeoff kicked up a storm of dust. But it isn't all bad news.

Last week's gold medal winner, *Now You See Me: Now You Don't*, dropped a not great, but not awful 57 percent from its $21.3 million domestic open with a $9.1 million week 2 take. That lands it in the No. 2 spot domestically with a $36.8 million overall gross and an impressive $146.2 million globally. *Predator: Badlands*, another IP heavy-hitter, proved its endurance with a $6.2 million week 3 haul, to make $76.8 million domestically and $159.5 million globally overall. That already vaults it over five films in the expansive franchise, where it sits poised, just $4 million behind 2004's *Alien vs. Predator*, to become the series' highest-grossing film.

Two premieres that dared to go up against *For Good *got exactly what they bargained for: meager returns. The Brendan Fraser-led cross-cultural comedy *Rental Family *earned the No. 5 spot with a $3.3 million opening. Though Searchlight hasn't released a budgetary estimate, the small-scale picture was likely a modest enough production to be satisfied by that opening performance. Following *Rental Family *is the war thriller sequel *Sisu: Road to Revenge*, which earned $2.6 million in weekend 1.

If it were any other new release from the last two months on the calendar coming up next weekend to challenge *For Good*, the bout could be called right now in Chu, Erivo, and Grande's favor. But next week's big premiere has been marked for success since its conception.

*Zootopia 2 *is set to unleash the beasts at home and abroad on Friday. Though 2016's franchise starter only earned $75 million in its premiere weekend, the prospect of a family film entering the ring ought to be a startling one for Universal. *For Good *is a much darker picture of Oz than what audiences glimpsed in *Wicked*, meaning parents may be more inclined to take their kids to *Zootopia 2*, especially considering the recent dearth of family films in theaters.

And if neither animated animal detectives or dueling witch besties appeal to you, there's a third way: Also opening on Friday is* Eternity*, a classic Hollywood love triangle romcom with a spiritual twist, starring Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner.

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Published: November 24, 2025 at 09:38AM on Source: PRIMO MAG

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byDamon Long

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November 24, 2025

Wicked: For Good stupendifies with $150 million U.S. premiere, shattering multiple box office rec...

The highflying sequel soared past its 2024 predecessor to achieve the biggest opening for a Broadway adaptation in box office ...

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