Lily James had typing lessons

31 December 2016

Lily James has had to learn to touch type on a typewriter for her role in 'Darkest Hour'.

Lily James

The 27-year-old actress spent months preparing to play Winston Churchill's secretary in Joe Wright's wartime drama opposite Gary Oldman as the legendary Prime Minister and is hoping her skills will come in useful if her acting career ever dries up.

She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I am actually playing a typist, so I've been learning to type on an old typewriter for the last few months

"So if everything goes wrong with acting, I'm going to be a secretary."

Lily recently revealed her dream role would be to play singer Carole King in a biopic.

She said: "I would love to be a singer, like Reese Witherspoon did in 'Walk The Line'. I think Amy Adams is doing Janis Joplin, which would be amazing. Maybe Carole King..."

Lily's most famous role yet is as Cinderella in Disney's live action remake of their classic animation and she has also taken on well-known parts such as Natasha in the TV adaptation of 'War & Peace' and as Elizabeth Bennet in the horror parody 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'.

Just like if she portrayed Carol, Lily accepts there is a weight of expectation surrounding the characters but she doesn't let people's hopes put her under pressure.

Lily - who is in a relationship with former 'Doctor Who' actor Matt Smith - said: "People love these characters, they have their own ideas of them. You're never going to please everyone, it's impossible, so I think it's an even greater feat when everyone knows the person. I just played an American waitress (in 'Baby Driver') and it was set now and it was total heaven because I could just be more myself and very relaxed and modern. The roles I've been playing, even though in some ways they're so modern - they're classics because they're these women that have stood the test of time because of their brilliance and their flaws, their humanity - it's fun to just be a bit more chill and sort of naturalistic. I'm trying to go for less iconic roles for the time being."