Watch Out For Lily James

by Helen Earnshaw | 25 March 2015

Lily James is on course to be a big screen superstar and she has sent her star rocketing with her latest role in Cinderella. The movie sees her take on the title character as she teams up with director Kenneth Branagh for the first time.

Lily James

Cinderella is a movie that has already topped the U.S. box office - taking over $70 million in its opening weekend - and it is set to enjoy major success around the world and be another live action smash hit for Disney.

At the age of twenty five, James has already enjoyed a career that has spanned five years and has seen her move between television and film; winning an army of fans during that time. She is one of the brightest British stars and a huge acting future is ahead of her… she really is one to watch out for over the next couple of years as she has some great projects in the pipeline.

It was back in 2010 when she kicked off her acting career, after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, when she landed the role of Ethel Brown in four episodes of Just William.

She went on to appear as Poppy in Secret Diary of a Call Girl, in short movie Chemistry and on the stage with the adaptation of Vernon Gold Little at the Young Vic Theatre. She went to appear in The Seagull at the Southwark Playhouse and Othello at the Crucible Theatre. These first few projects showed her versatility as an actress and her theatre work had the critics raving and tipping James for big things.

And big things were just around the corner as movies came knocking… once again she showed her versatile with Wrath of the Titans and Fast Girls. Wrath of the Titans marked her feature film debut, while Fast Girls was the biggest film role of her career to date.

The British movie saw Regan Hall in the director's chair and followed a group of talented athletes as they tried to come together to for a relay team. Lenora Crichlow, Noel Clarke, and Philip Davis were just some of the other names on the cast list. Fast Girls was one of the feel good films of the summer 2011, and was one of the best British movies of that year.

However, it was to be on television where James was to get her major breakthrough role, when she landed the part of Lady Rose MacClare in smash hit show Downton Abbey. We were introduced to the rebellious Lady Rose in the final episode of the third series and she became a main character in the fourth and fifth series - the show has helped send her star rocketing.

It does look like her future will be on the big screen and she is back with a major film role this week as she plays Cinderella in a live action version of the popular tale. While James is no stranger to film projects, this is by far the biggest film and role of her career… it really does look set to be the one that will put her on the map.

While Branagh has put his own stamp on this tale, he does nod back to the Grimm's fairytale as well as the classic Disney animation and it is a film that is charming critics and winning over audiences. James takes on the central role and is joined by a terrific supporting cast: Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Holliday Grainger, Derek Jacobi, and Stellan Skarsgard are all on board.

Cinderella has already grossed in excess of $253 million at the global box office and is set to be a smash when it hits the big screen in the UK this weekend. Cinderella will only further cement James as a talent to watch out for… and she has a whole host of exciting projects in the pipeline.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombie is one of the films that I am really looking forward to as the adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel is finally coming to the big screen. The book is inspired by Jane Austen's classic tale but sees the Bennett sisters battling zombies.

Burr Steers is in the director's chair for the film, while James is set to take on the role of Elizabeth Bennett in the film. Lena Headey, Suki Waterhouse, Jack Huston, Matt Smith, Charles Dance, Douglas Booth, and Sam Riley make up the terrific cast list. Adam Jones is another film that we are going to see her star in as she teams up with director John Wells for the first time.

Wells is back in the director's chair for the first time since August: Osage Country, while Steven Knight has penned the screenplay. James is part of another terrific cast as Jamie Dornan, Alicia Vikander, Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Uma Thurman, Emma Thompson, Matthew Rhys, and Daniel Bruhl are all on board.

And as if that wasn't enough, she will be back on the small screen for a television adaptation of War and Peace, which will sees her take on the role of Natasha Rostova alongside Rory Keenan, Chloe Pirrie, Michael Epp, Aneurin Barnard, Tuppence Middleton, Jim Broadbent, and Tom Burke.

Lily James is one of the brightest British stars around at the moment and she is only going to enjoy more and more success as we go through 2015. Cinderella is set to be the big movie platform that will send her star rocketing but she has a whole host of exciting projects on the horizon.