While we wish Keira Knightley would expand her repertoire a bit and act in a movie that actually takes place in modern times, we can't disagree with the notion that the actress performs well in period pieces.

Her latest, The Duchess, opens this weekend. Here are excerpts from an interview Knightley gave ComingSoon.net about the film:

ComingSoon.net: What was your response when you first read The Duchess script and did you know anything about the character before reading it?
Keira Knightley: I'd never heard of her before, no, so the script came through my door with three very large huge white ostrich feathers attached, with a gold ribbon, and I thought, "Oh, I don't care what it is. That's fantastic." Then I read it, and I know I just thought that she was fabulous; I thought she was a fascinating character. This idea of this woman who's politically so influential, and this huge fashion icon, and such a force of nature, and yet privately is somebody who is so intensely vulnerable and incredibly lonely. I thought, you know, the combination of those two things were sort of fascinating.

CS: Were you worried at all that you'd be able to pull it off?
Knightley: Oh, yeah. I mean, I think there's always that worry. I think you have to face failure, and particularly if you're an actress or an actor. Sometimes things aren't going to go the way that you hope they will, but that's part of what's so exciting about the job, you know? I don't really want to do things that I don't find challenging, so yes, there's always a huge fear that it's going to be awful, and I'm going to be crap, and all the rest of it, but you might as well go for it anyway.