Downton Abbey‘s Lily James stars as Ella in Disney’s Cinderella, released in NZ theatres on March 26.
She spilled all the details on auditioning for the role of a lifetime, how she prepared for the film and her on-screen Prince Charming, Richard Madden:
Q. Tell us how you came to get the part.
Lily: I originally auditioned for one of the stepsisters, and while I was there was asked to read for Cinderella as well. Then it was quite a long, intense process of screen tests. I saw Ken Branagh for two camera tests (one of which was done in full makeup and costume with mice to talk to), another meeting and an audition, so a total of four times, and I instantly felt a strong rapport with him. My final screen test was with Ken playing the Prince, which was especially cool.
Q. Were you intimidated taking on such an iconic character?
Lily: It was a little terrifying at first because everyone has their own perception of “Cinderella,” whether it’s from the animated film or from the storybooks, so you have a big act to follow. I was worried because I didn’t want Ella to appear as if she had no faults because I was afraid the audience wouldn’t relate to her if she was too perfect. But I just trusted Ken Branagh and drew strength from all the brilliant people who were part of the production.
Q. How did you prepare for the role?
Lily: I started taking horse riding lessons six weeks before shooting began, and I tried to start living healthily, doing a lot of yoga to try and get the kind of posture and grace and elegance that Ella would have had. I also did a lot of research on spirituality and read up on people like Gandhi who have been able to deal with life in a way that I knew I never could. But I wanted to make Ella seem as real as possible and didn’t want to just play that state.
Q. Did you enjoy working with Richard Madden as the prince? How is his relationship with Ella different from the animated film?
Lily: I loved working with Richard. In fact, we got along right from the start, which doesn’t always happen. We laughed a lot and had fun and became friends really fast, which made working together so much easier. The first scene we shot together was when we meet in the forest on our horses, and the energy we felt between us as people was the same that our characters were feeling, so it just felt very real. Richard brings so much to the prince because he’s so deep and so intelligent and is such a good actor. He’s actually very easy to fall in love with! What’s special about the prince and Ella’s relationship in the film is that they don’t know anything about one another, so it has nothing to do with him being a prince or her being a country girl. They just meet and connect as human beings. The prince actually learns a lot from Cinderella, in fact. And the character has been written very cleverly in the sense that you see that she’s challenged the way he thinks so that he is willing to question the King.
