Keira Knightley says choosing to have children meant she had to take a 'major step back' in her career

• Keira Knightley says she had to step back from her career because she chose to have kids.
• "I've been really surprised in the past few years about what I've said no to," Knightley told The Times.
• Working women across industries are often forced to choose between their careers and having children.

Keira Knightley, 39, chose to prioritize motherhood over her career.

In an interview with The Times published on Saturday, Knightley spoke about her decision to have children and the impact it had on her career decisions.

"I couldn't go job to job [abroad] now. It wouldn't be in any way fair on them, and I wouldn't want to," Knightley told The Times. "I've chosen to have children, I want to bring them up, so I've had to take a major step back."

The "Pride and Prejudice" actor has two daughters — Edie, 9, and Delilah, 5 — with her husband, musician James Righton.

Not only does Knightley now prefer roles that will allow her daughters to stay settled in school, but she's also looking for roles that aren't too emotionally taxing.

"I've been really surprised in the past few years about what I've said no to. I've wanted it to be more pure entertainment and maybe that's because I've needed that," she said. "I keep being offered things about children dying or about mothers dying. Can't do it."

Even though the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies made her a household name, Knightley says she doesn't want to appear in a franchise again.

"The hours are insane. It's years of your life, you have no control over where you're filming, how long you're filming, what you're filming," she said.

Knightley says she's also open to producing or directing a film, or even switching industries, although it won't happen while her daughters are still young.

"The world is an interesting place and there are other things in it I'd like to discover. I'm aware I've been doing the same thing for a very, very long time," she said.

The actor was 16 when she starred in "Bend It Like Beckham."

Knightley isn't the only celebrity who has spoken up about juggling motherhood and their careers.

In August, Blake Lively said she experiences mom guilt whenever she has to choose work over her family.

"When you're working, sometimes you feel guilty for, you know, not being in your personal life in those hours you're at work," Lively said. "And then when you're at work, you feel guilty by being distracted by wishing that you were at your personal life."

In March, Whoopi Goldberg explained on an episode of "The View" why she prioritized her career over her child.

"My kid came before my career, and I chose my career because I knew this would never happen again," Goldberg said. "She didn't always like it, but that is the process of being a parent. They're not supposed to like everything you do."

However, Hollywood moms are not the only ones who face this dilemma; working women across industries are often forced to choose between their careers and having children.

Part of it is due to the "motherhood penalty" — the pay gap that women experience when they become mothers, according to Claudia Goldin, a Nobel Prize-winning Harvard professor.

Her 16-year-long study found that female MBA graduates who have children are more likely to have less job experience, more interruptions to their careers, and earnings decline — something that their male counterparts do not experience.

A representative for Knightley did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.