This is an interesting moment for Lily James. After a deftly timed flirtation with darker, edgier subject matter in last year’s Baby Driver, plus an eye-catching appearance as Churchill’s secretary in Darkest Hour, the 29-year-old actress is raising her game with three female-led features that promise to position her as a British leading lady with international clout. First up is the long-awaited film adaptation of beloved historical novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, directed by Mike Newell. Later there’s Little Woods, an indie gem developed by its 28-year-old director Nia DaCosta in a Sundance incubator; and finally sun-drenched, all-singing, all-dancing sequel Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again, in which James plays Donna (aka Meryl Streep’s younger self).

That is how Sarah Bailey describes the actress in her cover story. And there are more descriptions like that all over traditional media and social media. The World is fascinated with Miss James choices of work. 

Why did she choose to be part of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a story set on the Channel Island following the Second World War?

She admits she originally passed on the movie adaptation of the novel, “but then I kept thinking about it, and actually it’s rare to find scripts that are so full of heart. I also like that Juliet was very stubborn. She should be sort of content because she’s made money and she’s writing columns, and she’s got this very flashy boyfriend. But she decides to drop everything to find out what it means to be in control of her own life.” 

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a tale of love and loss that manages to make even the worst of times seem a bit less scary" shares Mashable author Alison Foreman and deems it a must-see TV movie.  In this book adaptation, Lily is sharing the screen with some of the actresses she worked before in Downton Abbey: Jessica Brown Findlay and Penelope Wilton, who appear in supporting roles as members of the book club.

Ummm... interesting!  We Brits must stick together.  

She is keeping her personal life also entwined within the British's acting community. Her boyfriend is actor Matt Smith with whom she co-starred in the 2016 British-American historical action comedy horror film based on Seth Grahame-Smith's 2009 novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which parodies the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

You might recognize Matt Smith for his role as the eleventh incarnation of The Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who or more recently for his take as Prince Phillip in the Emmy Award-nominated series The Crown. 

If someday Lily marries her boyfriend, they will be Mr. and Mrs. Smith :) 

Next for Lilly James?  Sadly, her character Rose is not going to be included in the big screen movie adaptation of Downton Abbey, but she is working on a Danny Boyle's project which is being kept secret.  The plot has been kept under wraps. The title hasn't been released. But it is believed to be musically themed and be set around the 1960s or 1970s. Can't wait...

THE BOOK HAS MORE INSIGHTS

If you are like us, who has to read the book no matter how many movie adaptations are made about it, don't change your habit now. Enjoy Juliet's journey at your own leisure, read her letters, and meet more intimately the people she came to love.  

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