Keira Knightley no Fair Lady

Jan 15, 2010, 10:09 GMT

Keira Knightley will not star in the new film version of 'My Fair Lady'.

The 24-year-old actress was hotly tipped to be taking on the role of Eliza Doolittle, made famous by Audrey Hepburn in the original musical movie, in the adaptation of the classic rags-to-riches tale.

Keira met with producers Cameron Mackintosh and Duncan Kenworthy to discuss the part and even took singing lessons in preparation, but eventually decided it wasn't for her.

Daily Mail columnist Baz Bamigboye reports: "Keira was never officially offered the part and she is believed to have felt the project was taking too long to get off the ground."

Now Keira has ruled herself out for the role, British starlet Carey Mulligan - who is up for the Best Actress award at this weekend's Golden Globes for her performance in the film 'An Education' - is rumoured to be in the running.

Several other actresses have been linked to the project, including Scarlett Johansson and Anne Hathaway, but it is believed bosses want a British star to play the London flower girl who becomes a lady after meeting and falling in love with Professor Henry Higgins.

Although Keira will not appear in 'My Fair Lady', she has signed up for a new big screen project.

The brunette beauty will star alongside Michael Fassbender and Christoph Waltz in David Cronenberg's 'The Talking Cure'.

In the movie, Christoph and Michael play psychologists Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung respectively who both try and help Keira's character deal with the physical violence she suffered at the hands of her dad.