Supremely poised and effortlessly stylish, Keira Knightley is the kind of star you can easily envision as the life of the chicest Parisian house party (the plotline of her latest cinematic campaign for Chanel Coco Mademoiselle), but our April cover star is also the sort of introspective thinker with whom you can have a deep convo on saving the planet.

For this issue, editor-in-chief, Vanessa Craft, zipped over to London—Knightley’s home turf—for a one-on-one with the two-time Oscar nominee. The 32-year-old actress tells us all about her own everyday activism (less plastic and meat, please), the feminist slant in the characters she plays, and the moment she embraced making mistakes. 

For the whole story, you’ll need to pick up a copy, but for now, read on for an excerpt, where Knightley talks about learning to speak up with confidence within a traditionally male-dominated industry:

“I’ve always been sure of what I stand for. But I haven’t always been sure of how to get that across at work. In very masculine environments, it can be difficult as a woman to figure out how you can be heard and get your point across.”

“As I get more certain in my ability as an actress, I’m more comfortable with saying ‘Actually, I am pretty good at this, I do know what I’m doing and I do have an opinion that deserves to be listened to.’” 

For our full interview with Keira Knightley, pick up the April 2018 issue of ELLE Canada, available on newsstands March 12.