Keira Knightley: The reason why my famous Atonement sex scene will never live up to steamy ‘bonkbuster’ series Rivals

Keira Knightley has revealed why her famous Atonement sex scene will never live up to the raunchy ‘bonkbuster’ series Rivals.

The actress, 39, starred in the 2007 film alongside James McAvoy where they notable had a steamy moment against a bookcase. 

But she has said Disney+ series Rivals which came out last month had an ‘extraordinary’ amount of bonking and couldn’t be compared to what she has been in as now in films there is much more male nudity.

She said of the Jilly Cooper TV adaption which starred Emily Atack, David Tennant and Danny Dyer: ‘I loved every second of it. I thought they were all brilliant. The bonking is extraordinary.

‘The most famous sex scene that I’ve done, and the one that worked the best, was in Atonement. That was brilliant because it was storyboarded.’ 

One male nudity she added to The Times: ‘It’s really upped. There’s a lot of bottoms. It’s amazing. And actually, female nudity has gone down quite a lot, which is interesting.’

Keira Knightley has revealed why her famous Atonement sex scene will never live up to the raunchy ‘bonkbuster’ series Rivals (seen in the 2007 film)

The actress, 39, starred in the 2007 film alongside James McAvoy where they notable had a steamy moment against a bookcase

Atonement based on the book by Ian McEwan, follows the lives of young lovers Cecilia Tallis (Keira) and Robbie Turner (James McAvoy). 

When the couple are torn apart by a lie constructed by Cecilia’s jealous younger sister, Briony (Saoirse Ronan), all three of them must deal with the consequences.  

Keira was speaking to the publication to promote her new series Black Doves.

Last month Black Doves released its first trailer for the upcoming Netflix series which sees Keira and Sarah Lancashire take on leading roles as spy and spymaster.

It gave fans their first taste of the new thriller, which follows Keira’s character Helen Webb as an agent passing on secrets of her politician husband [Andrew Buchan].

Keira is a spy for the Black Doves organisation, headed up by the enigmatic Reed [Sarah], and has been giving them political information for 10 years.

Helen’s secret lover Jason [Andrew Koji] is assassinated and Reed informs her that her position in the organisation may have been compromised. 

Her theory is proved right when Keira is attacked by assailants, only to be saved by a friend from her past, Sam Young, played by Ben Whishaw.

But she has said Disney+ series Rivals (seen) which came out last month had an ‘extraordinary’ amount of bonking and couldn’t be compared to what she has been in as now in films there is much more male nudity

She said of the Jilly Cooper TV adaption which starred Emily Atack (seen), David Tennant and Danny Dyer: ‘I loved every second of it. I thought they were all brilliant. The bonking is extraordinary’

Sam is a suave, Champagne-drinking assassin but has been out of the game since a failed job with disastrous consequences.

As his past threatens to catch up with him, his task is to protect Helen as she investigates who killed Jason and why. 

Helen then makes Sam promise to keep her alive and keep her family safe, so she has time to find out who killed Jason and take her revenge on them.

Netflix fans already ‘can’t wait’ for the must-watch spy thriller which arrives to screens on December 5 with six episodes, set against the backdrop of London at Christmas.

Helen and Sam set off on a mission that will lead them to uncover a vast, interconnected conspiracy.

One that links the murky underworld of London to a looming geopolitical crisis – and leads them to question the cost of the moral choices they’ve made.

Pictured is a sex scene in Rivals

Atonement based on the book by Ian McEwan, follows the lives of young lovers Cecilia Tallis (Keira) and Robbie Turner (James McAvoy)

When the couple are torn apart by a lie constructed by Cecilia’s jealous younger sister, Briony (Saoirse Ronan), all three of them must deal with the consequences

The Netflix series is written by Joe Barton and Keira is listed as an executive producer.

Fans flocked to the replies to share their excitement for the new thriller and gush that they ‘can’t wait’ for it to air, writing: ‘Keira, Ben & Sarah. It’s going to be epic.’

‘Must watch this series’; ‘I was already in for Keira Knightley but Sarah Lancashire… I WILL BE SEATED!!!’; ‘Cant wait for it to come out’;

‘Keira Knightley in a spy thriller? December 5th can’t come soon enough’; ‘Lush! That is a brilliant star cast’; ‘Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire, you can’t go wrong.’