(Cover) - EN Star Style - Keira Knightley thinks people usually find how she looks in the flesh disappointing.

The 25-year-old actress shot to fame as a teenager playing a female soccer player in 2002 comedy Bend It Like Beckham, and she has blossomed into one of Hollywoods most beautiful women.

Due to her striking features and elegant style, Keira has made a name for herself as a fashion icon, and is the face of Chanel's perfume Coco Mademoiselle.

But the star insists people are often let down when they see her away from all the glitz and glamour, because in reality actors and actresses look completely different to their on-screen persona.

I think actors are shadows. They don't exist. The characters don't exist. The make-up is make-up; the clothes are somebody else's. When people see the reality it's incredibly disappointing, she told guardian.co.uk.

The actress has been cast in roles which have required her to look stunning, including the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, although there have also been films where she has played down her good looks, such as in Pride & Prejudice where she played a young lady admired for her quick wit and intelligence rather than her beauty.

On screen you're lit in a certain way. It depends what kind of character you are. If you're playing the beautiful leading lady, you're lit in a very specific way, you're told how to hold your face. When they want you to look sh*t, that's a different thing, and that's a lot more freeing. But neither of them are me, she added. (C) Cover Media