Keira Knightly has stunned her fans as they only now realize just how old the actress was when she starred in the franchise that would help propel her career to astronomic heights.

If you can think back to 2003, the world was a very different place.

Social Media looked nothing like it did now, there was no Netflix or home streaming to speak of… gosh, we really did live in the dark ages.

But good cinema is what the early 2000s certainly had. With one of the biggest global franchise’s about to take off. I’m talking obviously about the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Now, the first three films are just a bonafide good time with hilarious performances, iconic moments and a kick-ass soundtrack.

One of the reasons for the franchise’s success is one of its main character, Elizabeth Swann, played by British actress Kiera Knightley.

But recently, some fans have just realized how young she was when she took up the role, and when they found out, many couldn’t believe it… and I don’t blame them.

How old did you think she was? Mid 20s? Early 20s? Well either guess and you are well off. Knightley was actually only 17 when they began filming the flick.

One Twitter user wrote: “This must be a LIE,” while another wrote: “Wtf, I never knew.”

The actor played Elizabeth Swann in the film franchise. (Disney)

And a third wrote: “When I watched the movie I thought she was older than me.”

“Can you believe Keira Knightley was only 17 when Pirates of the Caribbean the Curse of the Black Pearl was filmed,” someone else said as they shared images of the star in the role.

“The fact Keira Knightley gave us these two iconic characters in the same year WHILE SHE WAS ONLY 17,” commented another referencing her being in Love Actually that same year.

With the success of the first film and its subsequent sequels came fame and celebrity status, something Knightley has spoken out about, with her arguing it hasn’t always been a good thing.

Knightley told Variety in a 2016 interview: “I found it pretty horrific. I’m not an extrovert, so I found that level of scrutiny and that level of fame really hard.

Keira Knightley has spoken out about the issues she had with fame. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for 20th Century Studios)

“It was an age where you are becoming, you haven’t become, and you need to make mistakes. It’s a very precarious age, particularly for women.

“You’re in some ways still a child. It was traumatic, but it set up the rest of my career.”

Despite the struggles then and the ones that followed in the next few years, the actress also said she wouldn’t take anything back.

Speaking to Variety in 2018 she said: “I’m unbelievably lucky now, and my career is in a place where I really enjoy it, and I have a level of fame that’s much less intense,”

“I can deal with it now, and that’s great. But at the time, it was not so great, and took many years of therapy to figure it out.”