Keira Knightley imagined herself as Al Pacino in 'The Godfather'.

The 'Begin Again' actress was drawn to movies from the 1970s, but growing up she always saw herself as the leading man rather than ''his f***ing wife''.

She told the Sunday Times newspaper's Culture magazine: ''My friend was saying she loved 1970s movies, and we both realised that's because we see ourselves as the main guys in them.

''When I watched 'The Godfather', I was Al Panico. I wasn't his f***king wife. It's interesting that there's still this funny construction of femininity.

''So, yes, it's nice working with women, because then you don't have to do this lovable, soft version of what the female sex has to be. It also allows men to understand women, as opposed to them being something pink and fluffy.''

Although she acknowledged some hypocrisy in her decision to then appear on magazine covers, she still insisted that ''minorities'' needed to be given a voice.

She added: ''I think when you recognise it's strange that half the population doesn't have the same voice as the other half, and there's minorities within minorities that don't have a voice and should have, it does make you go, 'Ha. This is interesting' ... I have no idea [what to do].

''I wish I knew. Keep on having conversations and somebody intelligent will go, 'Eureka!' ''