Lily James
Birthdate: Apr 5, 1989
Birthplace: Esher, Surrey, England, UK
Lily James (birthname: Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson) is one of the busiest British actors on the big screen, debuting as a warrior in Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros.’ failed action fantasy, Wrath of the Titans (2012), with Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Edgar Ramirez, Danny Huston and Ralph Fiennes under Jonathan Liebesman’s direction, grossing a disappointing $302 million on a $150 million budget.
James had a small supporting role in the British drama, Broken (2012), starring Tim Roth, Eloise Laurence, Cillian Murphy and Rory Kinnear under Rufus Norris’s direction, followed by James landing her first co-lead role in the U.K. track-and-field drama, Fast Girls (2012), with Lenora Crichlow, Lashana Lynch and Rupert Graves under Regan Hall’s direction and released by StudioCanal.
James earned her first Hollywood starring role as the legendary title character of Disney’s and director Kenneth Branagh’s live-action version of the animated classic, Cinderella (2015), written by Chris Weitz, co-starring Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Derek Jacobi and Helena Bonham Carter, and premiering at the Berlin Film Festival before grossing a fine $543.5 million global return.
James’s second American-backed movie in a row was director/producer John Wells’s comedy-drama, Burnt (2015), starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Daniel Brühl, Alicia Vikander, Matthew Rhys, Uma Thurman, and Emma Thompson, and released by The Weinstein Company to a weak $36.6 million gross.
James starred in Screen Gems’ commercial failure, director/writer Burr Steers’ horror-infused Jane Austen-inspired Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2009 novel, with Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance and Lena Headey, bombing for Sony Pictures Releasing ($16.4 gross on $28 million costs).
James co-starred with Jai Courtney, Janet McTeer, and Christopher Plummer in the WWII romance, The Exception (2016), adapted from Alan Judd’s 2003 novel, The Kaiser’s Last Kiss, by screenwriter Simon Burke and directed by David Leveaux, but delivering poor box office for A24 after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival.
Lily James solidified her status as a rising star as the co-star with Anson Elgort and Kevin Spacey in director/writer Edgar Wright’s rollicking crime movie for Sony/TriStar Pictures, Baby Driver (2017), with Eiza Gonzalez, Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx, and grossing a powerful $227 million after premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
James was cast in a major role in director Joe Wright’s and screenwriter Anthony McCarten’s portrait of Churchill (portrayed by Gary Oldman, who won the Best Actor Oscar) during WWII, Darkest Hour (2017), co-starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup and Ben Mendelsohn, and earning an outstanding return of $151 million (on $30 million costs) for Focus Features/Universal Pictures after launching at the Telluride Film Festival.
James stayed in the WWII period as the star of the romantic drama, The Guernsey Library and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018), with Michiel Huisman, Glen Powell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Matthew Goode, and Tom Courtenay under Mike Newell’s direction, and grossing $23 million for distributor StudioCanal. James then co-starred with Tessa Thompson in director/writer Nia DaCosta’s crime drama, Little Woods (2018), with Luke Kirby, James Badge Dal, and Lance Reddick, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival to excellent reviews but poor box office for distributor Neon.
Lily James joined the large ensemble of director/writer Ol Parker’s frothy Abba jukebox musical sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), co-written by Richard Curtis, co-starring Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Andy Garcia, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Cher, and Meryl Streep, grossed a stellar $402 million for Universal Pictures. James then starred in another jukebox musical written by Boyle, the Danny Boyle-directed comedy Yesterday (2019), starring Himesh Patel, Joel Fry, Ed Sheeran, and Kate McKinnon, making a successful launch at the Tribeca Film Festival and release by Universal Pictures ($155 million gross on $26 million costs).
James co-starred with Armie Hammer and Kristen Scott Thomas in director Ben Wheatley’s remake of Rebecca (2020), based on Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel (and made famous by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 movie version), with Ann Dowd and Sam Riley, produced by Working Title Films and released (in limited theatrical and streaming by Netflix. James joined co-stars Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes in The Dig (2021), adapted from John Preston’s 2007 historical novel by screenwriter Moira Buffini and with Johnny Flynn, Ben Chapin, and Ken Stott under Simon Stone’s direction, and released in limited theatrical and streaming by Netflix.
Lily James co-starred in yet another Working Title Films production written and produced by Jemima Khan and directed by Shekhar Kapur, What’s Love Got to Do with It? (2022), with Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, and Sajal Ali, launching at the Toronto Film Festival and earning $11 million for distributor StudioCanal. James then starred in director/writer Saverio Costanzo’s 1950s Italian movie industry tragedy, Finalmente l’alba (2023), co-starring Rebecca Antonaci, Joe Keery, Rachel Sennott, Alba Rohrwacher, and Willem Dafoe, produced by Wildside/RAI Cinema and premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival.
James joined the ensemble of director/writer/producer Sean Durkin’s well-received boxing drama, The Iron Claw (2023), starring Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney and Holt McCallamy, earning a solid $45 million gross (on $16 million costs) for A24, which co-produced and distributed, and then James co-starred with Himesh Patel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the crime comedy, Greedy People (2024), with Tim Blake Nelson, Traci Lords, Joey Lauren Adams, Uzo Aduba, Jim Gaffigan, Simon Rex and Nina Arianda, and released by Lionsgate.
James co-starred with Riz Ahmed in director/producer David Mackenzie’s corporate thriller, Relay (2024), with Sam Worthington, Willa Fitzgerald and Victor Garber, premiering in 2024 at the Toronto Film Festival and released wide in 2025 by Bleecker Street, and then James starred in director/co-writer Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s docudrama about the dating platform Bumble, Swiped (2025), with Dan Stevens, Pierson Fode, Myha’la, Joely Fisher, and released by 20th Century Studios.
James delivered a voice performance in the animated sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 3 (2027), with the voices of Emma Myers, Danny McBride, Jason Sudeikis, Tim Robinson, Keke Palmer, Josh Gad, Sam Richardson, and Rachel Bloom under John Rice’s direction, and produced by Dentsu/Double Negative/Flywheel Media. James co-starred in the untitled reboot of Cliffhanger (date to be announced), with Pierce Brosnan, Nell Tiger Free, Franz Rogows, Ki, and Shubham Saraf under Jaume Collet-Serra’s direction and backed by primary producers StudioCanal and Original Film.
Lily James took on another co-starring role in the Takashi Miike-directed Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo (date to be announced), a standalone sequel to Abel Ferrara’s original Bad Lieutenant (1992), with Shun Oguri and Liv Morgan, produced by Jeremy Thomas and released by Neon, and then James co-starred with Carrie Coon and Bella Ramsey in director/co-writer Guy Nattiv’s mystery, Harmonia (date to be announced), co-written by Noa Berman-Herzberg and co-produced byt Sight Unseen Pictures/New Native Pictures.
James co-starred with Sebastian Stan (who were also both executive producers) in the horror movie, Let the Evil Go West (date to be announced), directed by Christian Tafdrup and backed by Gramercy Park Media/Star Thrower Entertainment, and then James starred in and produced co-directors/writers Lloyd Harvey’s and Spencer Harvey’s thriller, Photo Booth (date to be announced), co-starring Rupert Friend and Raffey Cassidy, and produced by Carver Films/Parodos Productions/Tree Line Film.
Personal life
Lily James was born and raised in the North Surrey town of Esher in England by her parents, Ninette (an actor) and the late Jamie Thomson (a musician). James has one older and one younger brother. James’ paternal grandmother was American actor Helen Horton, while his maternal grandmother is French. James attended and graduated from Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and then studied acting and graduated with a B.A. from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in 2010. James has been in relationships with actor Matt Smith (from 2014 to 2019) and musician-songwriter Michael Shuman in 2021. James’s height is 5’ 7”. James’s estimated net worth is $8 million.
Lily James Movies
actor
Upcoming (1)
- 2026 |
Cliffhanger
asNaomi
A mountain guide and his daughter's alpine climbing business in the Italian Alps faces a tragic event, forcing them to confront and overcome adversity as dangerous foes emerge, unleashing chaos.
Previous (23)
- 2025 |
- 2024 |
Greedy People
asPaige
Follows the residents of a small island town who must navigate a sensational murder and the discovery of a million dollars; a series of increasingly bad decisions upend the once peaceful community.
- 2023 | Finally Dawn
- 2023 |
The Iron Claw
asPam
The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s.
- 2022 | What's Love Got to Do with It?
- 2023 |
What’s Love Got to Do with It?
asZoe Stevenson
What’s Love Got to Do with It?
In London, an award-winning film-maker documents her best friend's journey into an assisted marriage in line with his family's Pakistani heritage. In the process, she challenges her own attitude towards relationships.
- 2021 | The Dig
- 2020 | Rebecca
- 2019 | All About Eve
- 2019 |
- 2019 |
Little Woods
asDeb
In Little Woods North Dakota, two estranged sisters are driven to extremes when their mother dies, leaving them with one week to pay back her mortgage.
- 2018 |
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
asYoung Donna
Five years after the events of Mamma Mia! (2008), Sophie prepares for the grand reopening of the Hotel Bella Donna as she learns more about her mother's past.
- 2018 |
Sorry to Bother You
asDetroit's White British Voice
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed.
- 2017 |
Darkest Hour
asElizabeth Layton
In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.
- 2017 |
Baby Driver
asDebora
Coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love, and freedom.
- 2017 |
The Exception
asMieke de Jong
A German soldier tries to determine if the Dutch resistance has planted a spy to infiltrate the home of Kaiser Wilhelm in Holland during the onset of World War II, but falls for a young Jewish Dutch woman during his investigation.
- 2016 | Branagh Theatre Live: Romeo and Juliet
- 2016 |
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
asElizabeth Bennet
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Five sisters in 19th century England must cope with the pressures to marry while protecting themselves from a growing population of zombies.
- 2015 |
- 2015 |
Cinderella
asCinderella
When her father unexpectedly dies, young Ella finds herself at the mercy of her cruel stepmother and her scheming stepsisters. Never one to give up hope, Ella's fortunes begin to change after meeting a dashing stranger.
- 2012 | Broken
- 2012 | Fast Girls
- 2012 |
Wrath of the Titans
asKorrina
Perseus braves the treacherous underworld to rescue his father, Zeus, captured by his son, Ares, and brother Hades who unleash the ancient Titans upon the world.
Facts About Lily James
What’s in a Name?: Lily James was the adopted stage name of Lily Ninette Thomson, taking her late father’s first name for her stage last name in his honor.
American Cousins: James’s American cousins, once removed, include former U.S. Presidents George Bush and George W. Bush as well as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and James is a distant relative of Meryl Streep.
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