Sienna Miller has said her relationship with Jude Law was “bad timing” as it overshadowed her fledgling acting career.
The actress, 37, said it was a “battle” to be seen as more than Law’s girlfriend at the time.
They became engaged in 2004 after meeting on the set of the 2003 film Alfie but split in 2006 following Law’s affair with his children’s nanny.
Miller was at the start of her acting career, having made her debut in 2001 in the film South Kensington, and her rise to fame came hand-in-hand with her relationship with Law.
She told Elle UK magazine: “I fell in love with someone very famous and that became the story – it was bad timing.
“I had an amazing time, but it would have been nice if that hadn’t happened before I was known for something else.
“It was a battle to be seen as something else.”
The actress, who has starred in films including Factory Girl, American Sniper and Live By Night and TV film The Girl, said that there are “always good and bad elements to fame”.
Reflecting on her career and life in the spotlight, she said: “It would be ridiculous to say that it’s not beneficial…
“It was extremely fun and exciting. I’ve met Keith Richards and Mick Jagger! I’ve had experiences I couldn’t dream of.
“But the experience that I had with it? It’s not worth it for me. It was way too intense.”
Miller next appears in the film American Woman, in which she plays a working-class single mother who must put her life back together after her daughter goes missing.
The film is set over a period of 11 years and, after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, Miller has received positive acclaim from critics.
Speaking of the role, she said: “I don’t want to be myself in a film – ever. The job of acting really is metamorphosis. If you’re doing it right, you should disappear.
“It was the opportunity to play somebody who earns respect throughout a film.
“Ending as a different woman from how she began. It feels like an odyssey.”
The November issue of Elle UK is on sale from Thursday October 3
