Keira Knightley Reveals How Motherhood Affected Her Performance in 'The Aftermath' (Exclusive)

There’s nothing like the hormonal rollercoaster of new motherhood to get the tear ducts flowing at work!

Keira Knightley is opening up about the impact of filming her new movie, The Aftermath, during the aftermath of becoming a mom.

The 33-year-old Brit beauty welcomed her daughter, Edie, now three, with husband James Righton in 2015, then started work on the World War II drama, opposite Alexander Skarsgard, 18 months later.

“The the weird thing with acting is that sleep deprivation basically makes your emotions very close to the surface,” Knightley told ET. “It's much easier to cry. You feel like crying all the time, so I can turn that on like that, so this is great. Thanks kid.”

“The bags under my eyes are a little bit more, but apart from that, the crying is good!” she added with a laugh.

While crying can be good for work, Knightley recently admitted that motherhood has been “f**king difficult,” and that she thinks women don’t get enough credit for what they go through after giving birth.

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"I don’t think we give women enough credit for the physical and emotional marathon they go through when becoming a mother,” she told Balance magazine. “I come from a place of amazing privilege. I have an incredible support system; I’ve been unbelievably lucky in my career; I can afford good childcare, and yet I still find it really f**king difficult."

"It’s OK to say that," she added. "It doesn’t mean I don’t love my kid, it’s just me admitting that the sleep deprivation, the hormonal changes, the shift in relationship with my partner, are all things that make me feel as if I’m failing on a daily basis. I have to remind myself that I haven’t failed, I’m just doing what I can do, but it’s not easy.”

See more on Knightley below.

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