Lily James. Remember her as Lady Rose on Downton Abbey, the one who was determined to bring the estate into the Roaring Twenties through sheer bloody mindedness? You're about to hear about her a lot more. Although Downton Abbey and Wrath of the Titans are really the only two significant projects she's worked on, she's just been cast in Kenneth Branagh's interpretation of Cinderella. A lot of attempts to modernize or make dark(er) versions of fairy tales over the past few years haven't exactly been met with enthusiasm from audiences, but this promises to be a fairly straight, faithful adaptation of the source material. James will be playing the eponymous Cinderella, which puts her front and center of a major Hollywood production. We'd say more, but frankly all you really need to know is that Cinderella also stars Cate Blanchett (Lady Tremaine), Helena Bonham Carter (Fairy Godmother), and Richard Madder (Prince Charming). So clearly Branagh has an eye for casting. The film won't be released until early 2015, but expect the media circus surrounding the young actress to begin sooner than you might think.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
