Keira Says No to Bigger Bust

July 29, 2008 — -- Call it truth in advertising: Waifish actress Keira Knightly has balked at having the digital wizards enhance her breasts in publicity photos for her new film, "Duchess."

The sultry star of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Atonement" feels she doesn't need cleavage to be sexy and insists on being portrayed as the A-cup beauty that she is rather than being air-brushed into a more voluptuous C-cup.

"Keira Knightly is essentially giving young women permission to stand up in their communities and their schools and their families and say, 'Look, this is the way I look and it is OK," said "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters" author Courtney Martin.

The 23-year-old's chest has been the subjected to scrutiny before. In promotions for "King Arthur" in 2004, the actress' A-cup was morphed into a C-cup on posters. At the time Knightly admitted, "those things weren't really mine," though she still went along with the publicity campaign.

"I think that's incredibly brave and could have a huge impact on young women," Martin said of Knightly's decision.

Techniques like airbrushing and enhancements are nothing new and often seen on magazine images, like when tennis ace Andy Roddick's bulging biceps garnered attention on a Men's Fitness cover. "Titanic" star Kate Winslet also faced whispers when a svelte version of her appeared on GQ's cover. The red-haired actress criticized the picture publicly and said the magazine reduced the size of her thighs by a third.

Altering a photo in the digital age can be as simple as a few clicks. This applies to still photos and videos.

ABC News correspondent Juju Chang went to New York's Post Works, a leading film production house, to see just how easily images can be manipulated.

"A lot of people don't realize you can change anything," said digital artist Ben Murray. "If a character is drinking a can of Coke, I can change it into a can of Pepsi."

Hollywood can change sets, lighting and even props all in post-production.

Chang brought images of herself just after her maternity leave in April, and within minutes Murray shaved off the baby weight, was able to ditch a pearl necklace and change the clothing's color.