Fairytale success not wasted on Lily James in Cinderella
“I feel like I’ve got to say, ‘I’m sorry I’ve got a small waist’. It’s a shame, because it’s not what the film is about,” says the 25-year-old who found fame as Lady Rose in Downton Abbey.
Tall and naturally slim, James’s exercise regime differs from job to job. “With Cinderella, I did loads of yoga, because I wanted to feel graceful, and it was also to do with meditation and feeling centred,” explains the actress.
Arriving 65 years after the original Disney animation of the famous fairytale was released, the movie, directed by Kenneth Branagh, is beautifully shot, with an adaptation fit for modern audiences. For one, the man is the love interest rather than the woman, something James acknowledges with a wide smile.
“Cinderella is all about the woman, and it’s great to follow a female protagonist,” remarks the Surrey-born actress. “It’s not about a girl looking for a prince, if that’s what you want to do, then each to their own, but with Cinderella, she’s fine on her own, dealing with life and doing it really well, despite her circumstances.”
In this telling of the timeless story, Ella (James) is a beautiful young woman whose idyllic life comes crashing down when her merchant father (Ben Chaplin) remarries following the death of her mother (Hayley Atwell).
She welcomes her stepmother (Cate Blanchett, in magnificent form) and her two daughters into the family home, but when her father dies, she finds herself at the mercy of her cruel new family.
“Cate’s so wonderful and brings so much to the character,” notes James of her Oscar-winning co-star. “When you’re acting with her, you’re enriched by what she’s doing.”
“No one in the kingdom will outshine my daughters.” #Cinderella pic.twitter.com/BvkiETrLFa
— #Cinderella (@CinderellaMovie) March 25, 2015
She says she loves Blanchett’s interpretation of the stepmother. “I felt such empathy for the character. I could see the pain in her, in her life and the bitterness,” she adds.
James was also genuinely enchanted by the character she had to play. “I was so moved by Ella’s courage and so relieved that it’s about this beauty radiating from within, and that just because you’re nice, or the good and kind one, doesn’t mean you’re a pushover or soft. You can still have guts,” notes James, who believes it’s the notion of rooting for the underdog that explains the story’s enduring appeal.
"It’s the girl. I’ve never met anyone like her." #Cinderella pic.twitter.com/xjF99n2So9
— #Cinderella (@CinderellaMovie) March 22, 2015
It’s only five years since James graduated from London’s Guildhall School Of Music And Drama, in which time she’s starred opposite Dominic West in a production of Othello and Liam Neeson in Wrath Of The Titans.
She left Downton Abbey last year.“I think Downton Abbey has been amazing for me, because it meant I was seen for something like this and put in rooms with people I want to work with. I’m so grateful.”
Will Lady Rose ever return to the series? “I’ll be back...” she grins.
In the meantime, she’s busy filming a TV adaptation of Tolstoy’s 1869 novel War And Peace with Happy Valley’s James Norton in Lithuania.
Later this year, she’ll also be promoting Pride And Prejudice and Zombies, a horror parody of Jane Austen’s classic, in which she stars as the book’s heroine Elizabeth Bennet (James met her boyfriend, former Doctor Who, Matt Smith, on set). Beyond that, she admits she’s looking for a contemporary role after all the period projects.
“I’m going to say to my agent, ‘Jeans, no bra, T-shirt and a cigarette, much more like me’.”
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— #Cinderella (@CinderellaMovie) March 17, 2015
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