Lily James is a British theater and film actress. After starting her career in 2010, the girl was able to break into the status of a rising star in a few years. And today, by the age of thirty, she counted the main roles in festival dramas, productions of the best theaters in England and Hollywood blockbusters. In this article you can find a list of the best films featuring Lily James.
Biography and first roles
Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson was born on April 5, 1989 in the English city of Asher, which is located in Surrey. From childhood, she was interested in acting and attended school with a theatrical bias. After graduated from the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Theater. Then the girl took the pseudonym Lily James.
The screen debut for the actress was the 2010 British series Just William. Then James began to play in the theater, where she received the roles of Nina Zarechnaya and Desdemona. The first popularity came to her after appearing in a secondary role in the world-famous TV series "Downton Abbey", which also brought Lily the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Acting Ensemble. The young actress also appeared in small roles in the blockbuster Anger of the Titans and the independent drama Broken.
"Cinderella"
This picture was a real breakthrough in the career of the actress. “Cinderella” with Lily James in the title role was shot by the outstanding theater and film director Kenneth Branoy, who also accounted for the blockbusters “Thor” and “Murder on the Orient Express”. The film was one of the first game remakes of classic Disney studio cartoons.
The picture tells the well-known story of a classic European fairy tale about a girl whose mother died and her father married a second time. The heroine is forced to endure humiliation from her stepmother and new sisters. Thanks to the Fairy Godmother, she gets the opportunity to get to the main ball in the kingdom, where the prince falls in love with her. Cinderella received excellent reviews from critics and was able to raise more than half a billion dollars at the global box office.
"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"
The next major film with Lily James was the adaptation of Seth Graham Smith's popular novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Work on the project began in 2009, but was significantly delayed due to budget problems. During this time, the film was replaced by almost a dozen directors, and the main role before James could play Natalie Portman and Lily Collins.
The plot of the picture is based on numerous adaptations of the classic British novel "Pride and Prejudice", but occurs in an epidemic of a zombie virus. The main character named Elizabeth Bennett and her sisters are forced to solve problems of a romantic nature, simultaneously killing the living dead. The film failed at the box office, earning just $ 16 million with a budget of 28 million, and also received negative reviews from critics and viewers immediately after the premiere. Nevertheless, he has a dedicated fan base, and in the three years that have passed since the premiere, he managed to get a cult status.
"War and Peace"
A year later, a multi-part film was released with Lily James in the lead role based on the classic novel by Leo Tolstoy. The actress transferred the image of Natasha Rostova to the screen. The large-budget British production follows the main storyline of the book and tells the story of several noble families in Russia in the early nineteenth century. The mini-series received excellent reviews from critics and ordinary viewers, and also brought Lily James several nominations for various awards.
"Romeo and Juliet"
In the same 2016, the on-screen version of the theatrical production of the famous tragedy of William Shakespeare "Romeo and Juliet" with Lily James in the title role was released in limited rental. Her partner on stage was Richard Madden, with whom the actress has already worked on the film "Cinderella." The play told the story of young people who fall in love with each other, despite the fact that their families have been at war for many years.
"Baby Drive"
The next successful work of Lily James in genre cinema was the new project of the famous British director Edgar Wright, who had previously shot the cult films "Zombies named Sean" and "Type Cool Pointers". The film tells about a young talented driver nicknamed Kid, who is forced to participate in bank robberies. Lily played the love interest of the protagonist, a waitress named Deborah, whose relationship forces him to leave his past life behind.
Baby Drive was the most commercially successful film in Edgar Wright’s career and was able to raise a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office with a modest production budget of 34 million. The project also received a huge number of positive reviews from critics and high ratings from viewers. Immediately after the premiere, news appeared that the studio was interested in a sequel to the picture.
Dark Times
That period turned out to be extremely productive for the actress. Almost simultaneously with “Toddler on Drive,” Lily James appeared in a more serious project, Dark Times. The 2017 film talks about the early months of Winston Churchill as British Prime Minister and the outbreak of World War II. The famous politician was played by Gary Oldman, who became almost unrecognizable thanks to many hours of makeup, and the film was directed by director Joe Wright, also known for costume dramas "Atonement" and "Anna Karenina." Lily James played in the film, Churchill's new secretary named Elizabeth, who inadvertently affects the protagonist and forces him to change his political position. The film "Dark Times" was the first with Lily James, nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Film".
"Club of lovers of books and pies from potato peelings"
A film adaptation of the novel of the same name tells of a young writer living in post-war London, named Juliet Ashton, whose role was played by Lily James. She tries to find new stories for the book, not wanting to write about the horrors of the recent war, and accidentally learns about a book club on a small British island, which during the German occupation served as a cover for illegal meetings of local residents. She begins to correspond with the inhabitants of the island, and this dramatically changes her life.
The picture will be released in Russian rental only in August 2019, then fans of films with Lily James will be able to see it. At the same time, her premiere has already taken place in many countries. There, the film received positive reviews from professional critics and ordinary viewers. At the box office, the picture has already earned more than $ 20 million.
"Mamma Mia 2"
The sequel to the incredibly popular movie musical. The project became one of the most commercially successful films with Lily James in the title role. The first part, unexpectedly for many, raised more than $ 600 million in world box office and became a cult, so ten years later a sequel was released. The film takes place in two time periods. In the first, the plot focuses on the daughter of the main character of the first part, Donna, who died shortly before the events of the picture. The second line of the picture tells about the youth of Donna, it was the heroine Meryl Streep from the first film and was played by Lily James. In this section of the story, the past of the heroine is revealed and how she met with all three possible fathers of her daughter. Mamma Mia 2 has grossed more than $ 400 million at the box office worldwide, received positive reviews from critics and is highly praised by ordinary viewers, becoming one of the most unexpected movie hits of last year.