Biography
Date of Birth
5 December 1989, Esher, Surrey, England, UK
Birth Name
Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson
Height
5' 7" (1.7 m)
Mini Biography
Lily James was born Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson in Esher, Surrey, to Ninette (Mantle), an actress, and Jamie Thomson, an actor and musician. 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.
Trivia
Graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in London, England, with a bachelor of arts honors degree in acting in 2010.
Graduated from the Arts Educational School, Tring Park, in Hertfordshire, England, in 2008. In sixth form, she studied the musical theatre course curriculum and was elected head girl of the school.
She has American ancestry because Lily's paternal grandmother was American actress Helen Horton, who lived in England with Lily's British grandfather, Hamish Thomson.
She has the same birthday (not the same year of birth) as her on-screen mother in Cinderella (2015), Hayley Atwell.
She is a sixth cousin of U.S. President George Bush through her American grandmother. Lily's four-times-great-grandfather, Stephen Horton, was the brother of the president's four-times-great-grandmother, Sarah Horton (their parents were Comfort Horton and Joanna Wood). Lily is thus a sixth cousin, once removed, of the president's sons, President George W. Bush and Governor Jeb Bush.
She is a mezzo-soprano.
After learning that another actress in the Actors' Equity Association had the name Lily Thomson, she choose the stage surname of James to honour the memory of her father, James Thomson, who had died a few years earlier.
Her grandmother Helen Horton provided the voice of "Mother," the Nostromo space tug's computer in Ridley Scott's Alien (1979).
Counts True Romance (1993) as one of her favorite films.
Is a distant relative to her Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) co-star Meryl Streep, although the two actresses don't share a scene together. But James played a younger version of Streep's character.
The only time she has acted out giving birth in a movie was in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018).
She was in a relationship with actor Matt Smith from 2014 to late 2019.
Trademarks:
Thick eyebrows
Quotes
The first Disney movie I saw, I think, was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). I loved all the Disney princess movies.
I think it's probably best to work out in the morning to get it out of the way. My ultimate top tip is to drag yourself, even if you have to roll yourself out of your bed and into a sit-up. It's really not that bad once you start.
Boarding school in Tring was a bit of a bubble that burst when I went to Hackney to go to drama school.
I played Nina in 'The Seagull,' and I remember thinking it's incredible to see all the actresses in the past that've played her. It's quite strengthening. You feel a part of the family of actresses going through and giving something of themselves to the role.
I really want to play interesting roles, but you want to work, so it's a balancing game.
I used to go to musicals every birthday - that was my birthday present. We'd go to London, me and my two brothers and mum and dad. I think I saw 'Mamma Mia' about five times.
Mum would have a panic attack if she had to stand up and give a speech around a table.
I treated myself to a £700 Chloe bag after one of my first acting jobs. Then my friends pointed out that, for the same money, I could buy a flight to India. So I took it back.
It's so hard coming out of drama school to claim your right to be taken seriously and even get auditions.
The world of the flapper - live free, wild and young - that energy is intoxicating. It's nice to inject that into the more controlled 'Downton' way of living.
My mom passed down to me her old Levi's denim jacket. When I left it on a plane, I was devastated. I've never been able to find anything with quite the same cool, faded look.
I love clothes but it's a struggle for me to get out of jeans and a baggy jumper.
My first paid role was my first job out of drama school, which was Just William (2010). It was a BBC TV show. I played Ethel.
I don't like seeing celebs looking too skinny, I love it when they look healthy and comfortable in their bodies and embrace their curves.
When people feel good, they look good.
It took me a while to warm to the '20s costumes on Downton Abbey (2010). I love it when women accentuate their curves, and that era was all about hiding them. The shapes they wore then were in tune with female empowerment. Cutting off their hair and hiding their busts was a way of saying, 'We're equal to men!'
