SWIDE – Lily James is set to enchant cinema goers in 2015 when she takes on the role of the leading lady in Kenneth Branagh’s live-action version of Disney’s Cinderella. Having charmed her way into our hearts as the cheeky Lady Rose MacClare, prepare to be seeing her face a lot more.

Here are 5 things to know about this rising star.

What’s she made of?
Born April 5 1989 in Esher, Surrey, the English actress is known as Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson to her family and Lily James to the rest of us. She got into acting thanks to her grandmother Helen Horton, who had roles in Alien and Superman 3, and took to performing arts at a young age. Lily James began her studies at Arts Educational School, and later won a place to take on acting at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, graduating in 2010. She then took to the stage, appearing in major productions before getting picked up by the BBC.

Where have I seen her face before?
In the same year as graduating from Guildhall, Lily landed the role of Ethel Brown in BBC 4-part drama Just William, which picked up the BAFTA Children’s Award for Best Drama. Then she starred opposite Billie Piper in the 4th and final season of the highly successful ‘Secret Diary of a Call Girl’ putting her face out there on a larger platform. That same year, she started filming her part for Jonathan Liebsman’s ‘Wrath of the Titans’ as Korrina, alongside the likes of Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Sam Worthington. But, it is since she burst onto the scene in 2012 as Lady Rose MacClare in the Golden Globe winning Downton Abbey that Lily James has become one to watch.
Continue Reading

I’ve added pictures of Lily enjoying an afternoon at the Ralph Lauren and Harper’s Bazaar at Wimbledon with her Downton Abbey’s co-stars on June 24, 2014 in London.

Lily was spotted at the Wimbledon Championships for the Martin Klizan v Rafael Nadal match on June 24, 2014 in London, England.

Last night, Lily and her ‘Downton Abbey’ co-stars attended the Animals Asia Charity: ‘A Wonderful Starry Night For the Moon Bears’ at the Gilgamesh Restaurant in London.

RADIOTIMES – Downton Abbey might not be on our telly screens right now. But when has that ever put us off talking about the hit ITV period drama? Yeah, that’s right. Never.

While the cast continue to film the much-anticipated fifth series – primping up their impressive hats, perfecting their withering glances and getting up to all sorts of upper-class shenanigans – now is the perfect time to contemplate what’s to come next time we are invited down that gravelly drive to the Abbey.

1. We’ll be welcoming new faces.
As ever, a new series of Downton Abbey wouldn’t be complete without a few fresh new faces. This year we are welcoming Sue Johnston – she of Waking the Dead, Coronation Street and The Royale Family fame – as the Dowager Countess’s lady’s maid Denker. We don’t know much about Denker’s temperament, but you can probably brace yourselves for a bit of healthy and much-welcomed sparring between Violet Crawley and her maid.
Continue Reading

First look at Lily as Lady Rose MacClare in the new season of ‘Downton Abbey’!

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – Rabid fans of PBS’ ratings dynamo Downton Abbey — of which there were 26 million worldwide last season — will recall that the first telephone was introduced to the titular country manse in season one’s seventh episode. But on a rather (and typical) wet April morning at Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England, 67 miles west of London, actress Laura Carmichael is coping with a decidedly more 21st century issue during a break in filming the series’ upcoming fifth season.

“I’m trying to order some flowers, but you can’t get a 3G signal in here!” laughs Carmichael, 27, who plays young heiress Lady Edith Crawley. She longingly holds up her iPhone in Highclere’s lavish drawing room while sporting a 1920s skirt and blouse — and Ugg boots. Nearby are more Crawleys — including Emmy nominees Michelle Dockery, 32, and Hugh Bonneville, 50 — and a well-suited butler and a couple of footmen. In Highclere’s spacious library next door, Emmy winner Maggie Smith, 79, and Emmy nominee Elizabeth McGovern, 52, sit quietly and play the word game Bananagrams to pass the time before “action” is called.

As they wait to film another of Downton’s carefully appointed dining scenes, the cast and crew reflect on the streak of success none of them could have imagined. Season four of the series — which chronicles the post-World War I lives and loves of the aristocratic Crawley family and its staff — was the show’s most watched, and its premiere was the highest rated for a PBS drama. It also has made Emmy history as the most lauded non-U.S. show, with 39 nominations and 10 wins.

Working off of an idea from executive producer Gareth Neame, creator Julian Fellowes (the Oscar-winning scribe of Robert Altman’s similarly themed Gosford Park) has written each of Downton’s 4o or so episodes. “It was perfect for the zeitgeist,” says Fellowes, 64, of Downton’s grasp on viewers. “The Western world’s financial picture has been so worrying that there was need to believe that the world was once a simpler place, when lunch- and dinnertime were sacred.”

A gorgeous new photoshoot of the lovely Lily can be found in our gallery!

I have updated the gallery with missing magazines featuring Lily in 2012, including The Book, RWDmag and You magazines.