‘Donald Sutherland wore gas mask to a party’: Kiera Knightley recalls

Donald Sutherland once made an immensely hair-raising entry to a cast party by putting on a gas mask.

Kiera Knightley, who starred with the late actor in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, fondly recalled their time together in a recent tribute.

Writing for a feature in The Guardian magazine, she recalled “feeling unbelievably intimidated by his size and reputation” upon meeting Donald Sutherland for the first time.

During those days, the actress was only 20-years-old, whereas her senior was 70.

Talking about the gas mask incident, Kiera Knightley revealed that he had included “this clause in his contract that no one was allowed to smoke anywhere near him.”

She said, “Most of the rest of the cast were in their late teens and early twenties, all chugging away.”

So, the group surpassed extreme lengths to hide their smoking habits from Donald Sutherland as they just couldn’t throw their cigarettes.

Kiera Knightley detailed, “We used to manically wash our hands and spray ourselves with perfume after, so he wouldn’t know.”

“He’d sniff the air as soon as he came on set and we’d all nervously shuffle about,” she added.

In Pride and Prejudice, Donald Sutherland had played her father, Mr. Bennett. He is being remembered by numerous costars after sadly passing away at the age of 88 last week.