RADIO TIMES – Sophie McShera, who plays dowdy Daisy in Downton Abbey, has undergone quite the transformation as Drisella, one of the nasty stepsisters in Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella (out on Friday 27th March).
But while she’s had the chance to go mad in the dressing-up box, her co-star Lily James, Downton’s elegant Lady Rose, has given up her fabulous frocks to take the starring role as put-upon orphan Ella, looking for her Prince Charming.
Lily James (Cinderella)
“It’s such a hoot that Sophie is one of the stepsisters. She is so brilliant and it’s great to see her with a bit of make-up on and wearing fancy dresses, because in Downton she doesn’t exactly get to dress up!It was daunting to play Cinderella. And at first I did think, “Oh God, can I ever live up to this?” One of the themes of the story is loss and one of the things Ken talked to me about was that if this wasn’t a fairy tale, it could be a really painful, hard-hitting drama about a girl who loses her family and is virtually pushed into slavery.
At the heart of these fairy tales, there’s a message and it’s often about equipping children to deal with pain.
I loved working with Richard [Madden, who played Robb Stark in Game of Thrones]. I know two Richards – there’s the Prince with the lovely accent who looks like an old movie star; and then there’s the bearded, naughty Scottish lad. On-screen chemistry is a funny thing, but what made it work was that we immediately became matey and silly, and it took the pressure off.
INDEPENDENT.IE – She’s the star of a Disney fairytale blockbuster that’s coined over €200million and counting at the US box office. But Cinderella beauty Lily James claims she’ll always be left in the shade by her Downton Abbey co-stars.
“No one looks twice at me when they’re around and Cinderella has made no difference,” she tells Independent.ie at the film’s London junket in Claridge’s Hotel. “And I know that isn’t going to change.
“I was with a group of us the other week, with Sophie McShera [kitchen maid Daisy] and Laura Carmichael [Lady Edith] and people were going crazy for them. I was largely ignored until they realised I was in Downton too. And I’m delighted by that. It’s the best of both worlds.
“And someone said to me there, will you feel like the biggest star on the Downton set now because of Cinderella? I think we can safely say, nothing is going to change.”
But will the 25 year-old actress, currently dating Doctor Who actor, Matt Smith, be returning to UTV’s smash hit period phenomenon as Lady Rose MacClare?
After the success of Cinderella, James will follow up with BBC’s lavish six part retelling of Tolstoy’s War and Peace before leading an all-star cast including Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey and Bradley Cooper’s model ex Suki Waterhouse in Jane Austen horror spoof, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Company’s Holly Rains caught up with (the hilarious) Lily James to talk all things Disney, dancing and why you should never take her ice skating…
GRAZIA – We don’t know about you but we are BEYOND excited for the release of Cinderella especially because our girl crush of the moment, Lily James takes on the role of the greatest Disney princess to EVER grace Disneyland!
Our Joshington Post caught up with the actress last week to talk about the challenges she faced when taking on the role- namely having to use a portaloo when in costume- what she learnt from Cate Blanchet and whether or not Cinderella is a feminist.
If that wasn’t enough for you Joshington challenges the former Downton Abbey star to a game of Snog, Marry, Avoid: Prince Charming edition. Will Lily banish Brad Pitt from the kingdom, snog Jamie Dornan at midnight or live happily ever after with Keith Lemon? I bet you can’t guess what she is going to say….
Watch the video above for the exclusive chat and keep watching until the end to find out what Lily’s hidden talent is…
VOGUE – She may be most famous at the moment for playing the corseted lead role in Disney’s latest epic, Cinderella, but Lily James is much more of a low-key, jeans-and-jumper girl at heart.
“When the cameras are off I’m basically in jeans and my boyfriend’s jumpers. That’s it – jeans and jumpers,” she told us this weekend. “For the red carpet I have an amazing stylist and I go to her living room and these amazing gowns are spilling out of the windows, so that’s side of it I’ve got complete faith in, but I do find the make-up and the hair and the getting ready all quite stressful because it’s so far removed from how I am when I’m off duty.”
Wardrobe and make-up aside, there are other differences between Lily and her rag-to-riches character (she admits to being more like Walt Disney’s heroines Belle and Pocahontas in real life), and, while she loved the four-month experience of making the fairy-tale epic, the former Downton Abbey star is looking forward to working on a completely different genre when her current commitments are over.
“I’m actually doing War and Peace at the moment playing Natasha Rostova so it couldn’t get more epic after Cinderella than that – which is slightly daunting – but afterwards I’d really love to do an indie film or something completely different that’s modern and fresh.”
Well on her way to becoming the home-grown starlet to watch on the international stage, James is looking to mirror the successful career trajectory of another British film star.
“I think Keira Knightley is amazing and I’ve heard also that she is one of the coolest, most down-to-earth, brilliant girls and I really look up to her in that respect,” she enthused. “She’s got it all really and I think she’s made interesting bold choices in her work.”
High praise that, ironically, currently describes James herself.
