Keira Knightley, Elle Magazine’s March cover girl, on criticism, her upcoming projects, and the importance of honesty.

Keira On Her Character in The Misanthrope: “Jennifer’s kind of a crazy mix of being a complete bitch—confident and terrifying—yet she’s incredibly young and is probably being exploited way more than she actually realizes.”

Keira On Criticism of Her Acting Skills: “Oh, they still say that! Every time I do an interview with the English press, one of their questions is, ‘How do you feel knowing that everyone thinks you’re a shit actress?’”

Keira On Surrounding Herself With Positive People: “You have to be selective about the people whose advice and opinions you take. I know [my parents] would never tell me I was shit because they were trying to hurt me. It would always come from a very sincere place.”

Keira On Her Upcoming Film Last Night: “When we were making it, the arguments on set were just amazing about whether mental infidelity is better or worse than physical infidelity. There was a huge gender divide on the question. Every single woman said that mental infidelity is 10 times worse than [an emotionless assignation]. And most men I spoke with said that it’s the physical act that would be the ultimate betrayal.”

Keira’s Elle hits newsstands Feb. 16 — in the meantime, vote for your favorite Keira looks @ Elle.com!