BEIJING, July 6 -- British actress Keira Knightley on Tuesday denied rumors she was suffering from the eating disorder anorexia.

    Speaking a day after a revealing dress she wore at the London premiere of her latest film prompted questions about her weight, she added that she had a family history of the illness.

    "It was really weird, they said that to me yesterday," the 21-year-old told a news conference. She was referring to a question at the premiere of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" in which she stars alongside Johnny Depp.

    "They asked: ¡®How does it feel to be always called anorexic?¡¯ I had no idea that I was. I can safely say that I'm not.

    "I've got a lot of experience with anorexia. It was in my family. My grandmother and my great-grandmother suffered from it and I had a lot of friends at school who suffer from it, so I don't think it's anything to be taken lightly."

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)