NEW YORK: In director David Cronenberg's new film about Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and the birth of psychoanalysis, "A Dangerous Method", Keira Knightley plays Jung's formerly hysterical patient and lover Sabina Spielrein.

The movie debuts in U.S. theaters on Wednesday, and Knightley told Reuters back in September at the Toronto film festival that she initially turned down the role due to its spanking sex scenes opposite actor Michael Fassbender, who portrays Jung.