London
(ANI):
English
actress
Keira
Knightley,
who
had
been
criticised
for
being
too
thin
in
her
latest
role
in
'The
Duchess',
arrived
at
the
Toronto
Film
Festival
wearing
a
strapless
grey
gown
showing
off
her
slender
frame.
The
biopic
has
Knightley,
23,
playing
the
role
of
Georgiana,
Duchess
of
Devonshire,
an
18th
century
society
beauty
and
great-great-great-great
aunt
of
Diana,
Princess
of
Wales.
According
to
a
famous
portrait
of
Georgiana
by
Thomas
Gainsborough,
it
could
be
seen
that
the
lady
had
an
ample
figure,
which
is
considered
to
be
the
fashionable
silhouette
of
the
day.
But
in
the
movie
there
was
no
attempt
to
hide
Knightley's
naturally
skinny
frame,
and
it
has
lead
critics
to
say
that
the
actress
has
been
miscast
for
the
part.
"Knightley
looks
woefully,
painfully
thin
throughout...
it's
hard
to
listen
to
what
she's
saying
when
all
you
want
to
do
is
feed
her
chips," the
Daily
Telegraph
review
noted.
Another
critic
added
that
her
being
overly
thin
was
not
appropriate
for
the
role,
as
it
was
not
the
fashion
at
that
time.
"She
was
far
too
skinny...
in
a
time
when
the
hour-glass
figure
was
fashionable,"
the
critic
said.
But
even
with
Knightley's
figure
coming
under
scrutiny,
others
have
praised
the
film,
saying
it
is
a
possible
Oscar
contender,
with
Ralph
Fiennes''
performance
as
the
cold-hearted
Duke
of
Devonshire
singled
out
for
praise.
For
the
actress,
it
was
an
honour
to
have
been
given
such
a
role.
"It
was
such
an
honour
to
actually
be
given
this
role.
It
was
so
incredible.
There
are
relatively
few
leading
roles
for
women,
so
to
actually
have
one
land
on
your
doorstep
was
fantastic," Knightley
said.
"The
fact
that
people
are
now
liking
it
is
so
exciting,
so
I
don''t
think
you
can
ask
for
anything
more
than
that,"
she
added.