Ananova:

Keira Knightley says her mother encouraged her to have her belly button pierced when she was just 13.

But she says her mother had her best interests at heart and that it eventually landed her a starring role in Love Actually.

Keira told Elle Girl: "It's become a bit of a trademark. I got it done when I was 13, having a really bad time at school.

"Breaking up with friends and having to make new ones. My mum just decided I needed something cool to cheer me up."

And she explained: "Apparently Richard Curtis fell in love with it when he saw Bend it like Beckham. That's how I got to be in the film.

"I went to the audition and he said: "I want that belly button piercing in my film." My character Juliet gets married and the wedding dress was designed to expose my belly button."

And she said her mother also intervened when she wasn't sure whether to wear a see through Valentino top for the LA premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean.

She added: "But my mum was like: "Go on, what's the matter with you. You've got to wear it. It looks fantastic." And she was right. If I wasn;t going to do it when I was 18, when was I going to do it."