Keira Knightley was determined to return to work after having her daughter Edie to help maintain her "sense of identity".
The Pirates of the Caribbean star gave birth to Edie, her first child with musician husband James Righton, in 2015, and when her daughter was four months old, the family relocated to New York so Keira could star in the Broadway play Therese Raquin. She has since kept a steady filming schedule, which includes projects such as Colette and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and has now explained to Harper's Bazaar magazine why it was important for her to get back to work.
"I think for my sense of identity, it was suddenly very important that I had that thing that was still me and mine," she said. "I've only been able to do it because I can afford the childcare, but I think that sense of identity is something that a lot of women really feel rocked by and work was a way for me to keep that."
She was also inspired by her mother, screenwriter Sharman Macdonald, to keep on working.
"My mom always worked when I was small," she explained. "She's always had a real thing about me continuing to work, and I think a lot of my sense of self came from me being so proud of her for working and having that ethic."
However, the British actress doesn't think she would ever sign up for a taxing theatre schedule so soon after having a child again, as it was "quite mad". She recalled how she paid a maternity nurse double what she earned in the play to look after Edie at night so she could rest properly.
The 33-year-old is currently in the process of looking for a school for Edie, and is torn between the local school, which she might not get into, or a range of private ones Keira's unsure about.
"I’ve literally just gone crazy looking at every single one in London!" she laughed.