Keira Knightley has sparked speculation over her relationship with boyfriend Rupert Friend in a newspaper interview.

The 24-year-old actress appeared to make reference to her own personal life during an interview about upcoming play, The Misanthrope.

Knightley stars as the promiscuous Hollywood film star Jennifer in the production, which opens on the West End later this month.

In an interview with The Times, Knightley was asked is she could relate to her character.

She replied: "Do I recognise being an extremely well-known young actress? Yes. And she's in the middle of a world full of people who are quite a bit older than her.”

The actress then appeared to refer to her own private life when she added: “She's having a problem with her boyfriend. No comment."

Knightley and Friend began dating after meeting on the set of the 2005 movie adaptation of Pride & Prejudice.

The British star appears alongside Damian Lewis, Tara FitzGerald and Dominic Rowan in The Misanthrope.

Keira Knightley