The 25-year-old actress admits she finds busy social events "terrifying" and finds it very difficult to talk to strangers.

She explained: "Going into a room full of people at a party I find one of the most terrifying things in the entire world. I normally last about 10 minutes. I get completely paralysed with shyness, just totally paralysed."

Even though her friends warn Keira that she comes across as an "ice queen" in such situations, she insists that she can`t help her inability to talk to people she doesn`t know.

She added to Britain`s Elle magazine: "One of my friends was like, `You turn into an ice queen. What is it? You turn into a b***h.` And I don`t mean to look like a b***h but I just don`t know what to say. This is the problem with a shy person being famous."

The stunning brunette - who is currently starring in London`s West End theatre district in `The Children`s Hour` - blames her lack of social skills on the fact she sacrificed her personal life as a teenager to focus on becoming an actress and didn`t go to university.

She said: "I`d experienced a lot, work-wise, but as far as normal progression ? I`d never sat in a pub with friends, I`d never been out clubbing. Any of the things you normally do at university, I`d bypassed.

"So on one level I was very grown-up and on another level with the whole social thing, I was really far behind."
sections: Celebrities