In her first major role, the 2001 Walt Disney Productions feature film Princess of Thieves, Knightley played the daughter of Robin Hood. To prepare for the film, she trained for several weeks in archery, fencing and horse riding. During this time, Knightley also appeared in The Hole, a thriller that received a direct-to-video release in the United States. The film's director Nick Hamm described her as "a young version of Julie Christie". Knightley took on the role of Lara Antipova, in the miniseries adaptation of Doctor Zhivago. The series, co-starring Scottish actor Hans Matheson in the title role, first aired in 2002 to good reviews and high ratings. In the same year, Knightley took on the role of a pregnant drug addict in Gillies MacKinnon's drama film Pure. Co-starring Molly Parker and Harry Eden, it was the film had its world premiere at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival. In a retrospect review Carlo Cavagna of AboutFilm.com noted Knightley's screen presence and wrote that though she, "doesn't have half of Parker's ability, shines brightly in Pure"
