Keira Knightley to Play My Fair Lady's Eliza Doolittle

According to the London News Telegraph, Oscar-nominated actress Keira Knightley--a self-professed fan of musicals--will play the feisty Cockney flower girl tutored by Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady.

"Knightley...is said to be 'thrilled' at the prospect of taking the role made famous on film by Audrey Hepburn in the 1960s," states the article. Cameron Mackintosh--who was also behind the hit 2001 London revival starring Martine McCutcheon and Jonathan Pryce--will produce, and that same production's director Trevor Nunn will helm the new My Fair Lady.

However, both are as of yet unsure whether they will be taking on My Fair Lady as a stage production or as a movie musical. Knightley--who will soon be meeting with the Mackintosh's musical director and who was seen "studying the script madly" while filming Pirates of the Caribbean 2 in the Bahamas--is reportedly prepared to star in My Fair Lady on either stage or screen.

Although known for her sultry image, the 21 year-old actress--a major box office star--is "desperate to do theatre," and lists The Lion in Winter's Eleanor of Aquitaine and Electra (of Greek tragedy fame) as dream roles. Knightley, who rose to fame as the heroine of Pirates of the Caribbean, earned an Oscar nomination for her recent performance as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Other film credits include Domino, The Jacket, King Arthur and Love Actually. She is currently filming a third sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean, among others.

My Fair Lady concerns the attemps of linguistics professor Higgins to win his bet that he can turn common flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a full-fledged lady who can properly speak the King's (Edward's, in this case) English. Based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, the show opened on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 15th, 1956; it would run for 2,717 performances and win 6 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. With music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner, My Fair Lady originally starred Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison (who repeated their triumph in London). A 1964 film version directed by George Cukor starred Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.