She became a household name playing the title role in Disney's live-action Cinderella (2015), directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Lily James is an English actress born April 5, 1989, who trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She broke through as Lady Rose MacClare in Downton Abbey (2012,2015) before landing her career-defining role as the title character in Disney's live-action Cinderella (2015). She later portrayed young Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) and earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her transformation into Pamela Anderson in Pam & Tommy (2022).

Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson grew up in Esher, Surrey, the daughter of actress Ninette Mantle and musician James Thomson, with acting running in the family through her paternal grandmother, American actress Helen Horton. After her father died of cancer in 2008, she adopted his first name as her stage surname while studying at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. She graduated from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2010, immediately signing with Tavistock Wood management and landing her first television role as Ethel Brown in BBC's Just William that same year.

Lily James is not married. She was in a relationship with actor Matt Smith from 2014 to 2019, following their meeting on the set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Her maternal grandmother fled her village near Paris during World War II because of the Nazi occupation, later settling in England and marrying Lily's grandfather, a Royal Air Force chaplain, creating a multicultural family heritage that includes French and American roots through her grandmothers.