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"And I thought: I don't care what it is, that's fantastic," she says.
The packaging was richly appropriate to the material. The Duc hess is the story of Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire, an antecedent of Lady Diana, Princess of Wales.
Her story may have been set in the 1770s, but Georgiana is very much a contemporary woman. For one thing, she was a fashion plate, whose every outfit -- ostrich feathers or not -- influenced the wardrobes of aristocratic woman all over Europe.
She was also a political animal in a time when women didn't have the right to vote. That didn't stop Georgiana from advocating on behalf of England's upstart Whig Party, using her fame to get favoured candidates elected.
Finally, she was also a woman who suffered scandal. She endured a loveless marriage to her powerful husband, the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes), who insisted upon the two of them living with his mistress (and Georgiana's best friend) Lady Elizabeth Foster (Hayley Atwell). Georgiana later had a potentially ruinous affair with Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper), a politician who would later become prime minister.
Knightley was hooked, despite the fact it meant once again donning period costume, a travail she endured not long after she became an actress of note at the tender age of 17, courtesy of the 2002 girls soccer comedy Bend It Like Beckham.
She subsequently certified her star status by playing the plucky Elizabeth Swann in the three Pirates of the Caribbean films, and laced herself in a period corset once again for her Oscar-nominated turn as Jane Austen heroine Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice.
Working in those constrictive costumes can be an endurance test, but Knightley, 23, says she doesn't hesitate if the role is worthy.
"I think it would be cutting your nose off to spite your face if you turned down a fantastic script and a fantastic character simply because it was set 200 years ago," she says.
"I do love period films personally and I do love the fact that you can escape into a completely different reality.
"For me, what I love about film is that it's complete escapism and I find personally that seeing these costumes and these weird societies helps me to forget my life and helps me to dive into stories," she says. "I think that's why I like being in them, as well. It's a way to get into a fantastic fantasy world."
That said, the movie does draw sly parallels between the celebrity culture of now and two centuries ago. Georgiana may not have ever faced a bank of flashbulb-popping paparazzi, but she was stalked by press, and lampooned in newspapers, where her image could be seen in any number of political cartoons.
"I think it is interesting that it's been around for 300 years, and that we're still interested in the same things," Knightley says. "We haven't really grown any."
Knightley acknowledges that Georgiana did not spurn the limelight for her part.
"I thought that was very interesting, the way she used it. It said something about her mental state, because the more her marriage started collapsing, she needed more and more and more attention from complete strangers. That was interesting from a psychological aspect," she says.
The Duchess opens in Winnipeg Oct. 10.
randall.king@freepress.mb.ca
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