Keira Knightley feared her career would be "shattered" if she was photographed drunk.

The 'Love Actually' star started working as a child actress when she was six and shot to fame as a teenager and Keira revealed she deliberately avoided the party scene throughout her 20s because she was scared a picture showing her coming out of a nightclub would end her glittering career in Hollywood.

She told The Sunday Times newspaper: "I 100 per cent recognised and saw people's careers being shattered because they were photographed coming out of clubs.

"The money on my head at that point, if you'd got a picture of me drunk, was so huge. I wasn't going to give the [paparazzi] the satisfaction of taking that away, so I was unbelievably straight."

However, Keira did eventually loosen up and she ended up meeting her husband James Righton during a night out in London in 2011 and she admits dabbling with partying didn't last long.

She added: "It was a really good time. It couldn't have continued much beyond then, partly because I got pregnant but also, healthwise, I don't think it would have been good. But I think periods of hedonism are very important."

The couple married in 2013 and are now parents to two daughters Edie, eight, and Delilah, four, and the actress admitted she wouldn't let her girls start their careers so young because she regrets not getting a degree.

Keira explained: "Particularly for a young girl, I think you need those pieces of paper saying that you're smart, otherwise people think you're stupid, particularly looking the way I did. That was hard."

The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star has struggled with dyslexia since the age of six and she recently revealed one of her girls has similar issues.

During an appearance on 'Ruthie's Table 4' podcast, Keira explained: "I still find sight-reading really hard. It really bounces [the text] but basically I record it and listen to it, and listen to it, and that's how I learn it.

"But now we have a dyslexic kid and she's doing the same thing, and her memory is absolutely amazing."

The actress did not reveal which of her daughters has the learning difficulty, but she insisted the youngster has been blessed with an excellent memory, adding: "She'll look at books and would have memorised the book and it's amazing."