Early life

Lily James was born in Esher, Surrey, the daughter of Ninette V. A. (née Mantle), an actress, and musician James (Jamie) S. Thomson. Her grandmother, Helen Horton, was an American actress. She began her education at Arts Educational School in Tring and subsequently went on to study acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, graduating in 2010.

Career

In 2011, James played Taylor at the Young Vic Theatre in Tanya Ronder's stage adaptation of the novel Vernon God Little directed by Rufus Norris, Nina in a modern adaptation of The Seagull at Southwark Playhouse, and Desdemona in Daniel Evans's production of Othello at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, alongside Dominic West and Clarke Peters. Quentin Letts wrote in The Daily Mail: "We may have a new star actress on our hands. ... She left drama school only last year, yet she practically sweeps all before her as Desdemona in this Othello. Poise, diction, allure - she has them all. ... Her character’s love affair with a much older husband is completely believable". In 2012, James played the role of Katrina in Play House and Marijka in Definitely the Bahamas in a double-bill written and directed by Martin Crimp at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London as part of the theatre's fortieth anniversary. Charles Spencer of The Telegraph wrote that "it is performed with a persuasive mixture of mischief and deeper feeling by Obi Abili and Lily James, the latter combining a mixture of neuroticism and glowing sexual allure that proves extraordinarily potent."

Also in 2012, James played the role of Korrina in the Warner Brothers film Wrath of the Titans and starred in Fast Girls, written by Noel Clarke, centered around a group of young female athletes competing in the World Championships. Her television credits include Ethel Brown in the 2010 BBC production of Richmal Crompton's Just William, Poppy in the fourth series of ITV's Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2011), and the rebellious Lady Rose in the last episode of series three of Downton Abbey. Lady Rose later became a main character in the fourth and fifth series of the programme. James also appeared as Lady Rose in the series finale.

James played the title character in the 2015 live-action Disney film Cinderella. The film was released on 13 March 2015. James, as Cinderella, was photographed by Annie Leibovitz, in the blue gown that she wears to the ball, for the December 2014 issue of Vogue. James also made her singing debut in the film's end credits, covering "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from the 1950 animated film.

In 2016 she returned to television in the BBC's War & Peace drama adoption, which received rave reviews. She played the character of Natasha Rostova in the 2016 BBC historical drama series War & Peace.

The Radio Times said; Downton Abbey's "sex on legs" Lily James again plumps for a costume drama as the sweet and kind Natasha Rostova, over the course of the drama which spans eight years we will see her have her fair share of love and woe. When we meet the only daughter of Count and Countess Rostova, she is a spirited young teenager playing matchmaker between her friends. She appears to have feelings for her friend Pierre but with his imminent marriage it looks like any chances of romance between the two have been scuppered by the machinations of others.

In 2016 she also starred in her second major film role played the role of Elizabeth Bennett in the film parody of Pride & Prejudice an action-horror film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies it bombed (failed to break even) at the box office with mixed reviews. She will play the role of Juliet in the Garrick Theatre's production of Romeo and Juliet. The directors are Rob Ashford and actor-director Kenneth Branagh.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Chemistry	Ines	Short film
	Wrath of the Titans	Korrina
	Broken	Older Skunk
	Fast Girls	Lisa Temple
2015	Cinderella	Cinderella	Also playback singer for 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes'
	Burnt	Sara
2016	Pride and Prejudice and Zombies	Elizabeth Bennet
	The Kaiser's Last Kiss	Mieke de Jong	Post-production
2017	Baby Driver	Deborah	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Just William	Ethel Brown	4 episodes
2011	Secret Diary of a Call Girl	Poppy	8 episodes
2012-2015	Downton Abbey	Lady Rose MacClare	21 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2016	War & Peace	Natasha Rostova	6 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Festival	Prize	Film or TV series	Result
2014	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Won
2015	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Won
2015	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy	Cinderella	Nominated
2015	Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards	Breakthrough Award	Cinderella	Won
2016	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actress	Cinderella	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]