'The Duchess' expands Keira Knightley's reign

Arjun Gray

30 September 2008

You could sort of do a Marilyn Monroe thing. Whilst Knightley has done contemporary stories and wants to do more, she has made a specialty of historical festivals with films like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" blockbusters, "Atonement," "Silk," "King Arthur" and "Pride & Prejudice," earning her an Academy Award proposal for best actress.

"I don't think there's a method to play a period film.

"Why she's employed is that she just loves that personality. You might take all the garments away, and it must do with her belief in the character.".

Saul Dibb, who directed "The Duchess," announced Knightley has got plenty of the qualities that made Georgiana such a star on the 18th-century social scene. "She is sort of a similar force of nature, in a way. Because I claimed, 'If I have got to stand up for sixteen hours a day making a film, then am I able to please be ready to breathe a little bit? It might be actually beneficial. ' ". "It's not actually a shock we were called the weaker sex, as you literally can't get a breath. Georgiana Spencer was seventeen when her folks prepared a dream marriage to one of the strongest men in the Brit Empire, the Duke of Devonshire ( Fiennes ). The duke was the prince of cold fish, interested in his handsome, accomplished bride just for one thing : to provide a male successor. Georgiana reveals solace in her standing as Britain's fashion goddess and as a political operative, backing progressive applicants including future PM Charles Grey ( Dominic Cooper ), a childhood pal who becomes the love of her life in a scandal that is threatening to break her. Knightley figures Georgiana made such a show out of her public appearances because her home life was so sad. "Because of that, you sort of go out and attempt to prove that everyone else loves you.

No-one else minds that you are this failure, apart from every single time you come home, you must face it.". One is playing Cordelia in a big-screen version of "King Lear," and the other is a remake of "My Fair Lady," with Knightley taking on the Audrey Hepburn role as a flower girl transformed by a linguist into the belle of English society. "Any role is terrifying," Knightley announced. But I suspect you must look failure in the face and admit that it may occur, and that is not a reason not to try something.".