Lily James

Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson (born 5 April 1989), better known by her stage name Lily James, is an English actress. She played Lady Rose Aldridge in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey, and the titular role in the 2015 Disney film Cinderella. In 2017 she played Debora, the love interest of the main character Baby, in the action film Baby Driver. James began her professional acting career as Ethel Brown in the 2010 BBC production Just William. In 2011 and 2012, she earned warm reviews in several London theatre productions. She began to appear in Hollywood films in 2012, with roles in Wrath of the Titans, Fast Girls and Baby Driver, and in television roles such as Countess Natasha Rostova in the 2016 BBC historical drama series War & Peace. 2Early life Lily James was born in Esher, Surrey, England, the daughter of Ninette (née Mantle), an actress, and musician James "Jamie" Thomson. Her grandmother, Helen Horton, was an American actress. She began her education at the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and subsequently went on to study acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, graduating in 2010. 2Career 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 Abbe