Keira Knightley claims she is "twice the size" of most Hollywood actresses

15 September 2007 - Keira Knightley claims she is "twice the size" of most actresses in Hollywood.

The super-slim 'Atonement' star insists most of the women she auditions against are far smaller and skinnier than she is.

She said: "Weight is a big issue in Hollywood because I'm twice the size - height and everything else - of most of the girls who are going in to see the director for a part. When you realise that I am, at my size, one of the largest actresses there, you start to think, 'I don't think it'd be healthy for me to stay here much longer.' "

The 22-year-old actress has been criticised in the past because of her weight, and accused of having an eating disorder.

She was awarded £3,000 damages earlier this year after a British national newspaper suggested she was anorexic.

Keira has always vehemently denied the claims, but has revealed the life-threatening illness runs in her family.

She previously said: "I've got a lot of experience with anorexia. My grandmother and great-grandmother suffered from it, and I had a lot of friends at school who suffered from it. I know it's not something to be taken lightly and I don't.

"But whatever people say about my weight they are all wrong."

(C) BANG Media International