Lily James reveals the secrets of some of her most iconic roles across period dramas, musicals, biopics, and more in this episode of “Building Character.” From the costumes and styling of Lady Rose Aldridge in ‘Downton Abbey,’ to the makeup and prosthetics used for her transformation into Pamela Anderson in ‘Pam & Tommy,’ Lily takes us behind the scenes of the performances that shaped her career. Here, the Emmy-nominated actress shares how she first auditioned as a stepsister before landing ‘Cinderella,’ what it took to portray a young Donna (Meryl Streep) in ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,’ and the bold choices behind Whitney Wolfe Herd’s looks while recreating the early days of Bumble in ‘Swiped.’
00:00Hey Harper's Bazaar, I'm Lily James and I'm breaking down how I brought some of my most iconic characters to life.
00:08The Countess of Grantham presenting the Lady Rose McClare.
00:16So this is Lady Rose Aldridge from Downton Abbey.
00:20This is really, really early doors for me.
00:23I think this is one of the big first auditions that I got where I thought,
00:28oh hang on a second, this is unbelievable because growing up in England I was obsessed with period dramas.
00:35I mean Kate Winslet was my dream.
00:37It couldn't have been a more perfect role and more of a dream of mine to exist in a show and in a world like Downton Abbey.
00:45When I found out, I remember I was in a coffee shop in West London and I spilt my drink all over myself.
00:49I could not believe it.
00:51I had my hair blonde because I'd done this film, I dyed it blonde.
00:54And then when I turned up to shoot Downton Abbey, I'd gone back to a brunette and they were completely stunned.
01:00I didn't realise you should really tell people that at that time.
01:05And so I wore a wig in the end actually.
01:06I think we dyed my hair too.
01:08They were like, no, no, no, no, Lady Rose is definitely a blonde.
01:10What have you done?
01:11I was so new.
01:12I was suddenly sitting opposite Maggie Smith and I'd only just left drama school.
01:16And it was overwhelming and wonderful and everyone welcomed me in in a really beautiful way.
01:20I'm not going to give you an answer until you say it properly.
01:23Do I have to nail down?
01:24Of course.
01:25Their costumes were out of this world.
01:29I'd go in every morning and there was all this different jewellery lined up.
01:32And I got to pick how I'd accessorise my looks with all the long beads and hats.
01:36And the detail was extraordinary.
01:39We'd go to Angels, which is this huge warehouse in London that has all the like authentic old vintage pieces from the time.
01:46And then you'll look in the name tag and it'll say Cate Blanchett.
01:49And she'd worn it in, you know, some show because they all get stored there.
01:52It's this huge archive.
01:54So you feel this power.
01:56There's such a beautiful story around the wedding dress that I wore as Lady Rose.
02:00Our designer had found this dress in a vintage store and it was still in its original box.
02:05And wrapped in a ribbon.
02:07And it was a woman whose fiance had died in the war.
02:10And so she'd never got to wear her dress.
02:12And so it actually makes me feel emotional thinking about it.
02:14And so I had this dress that was an original dress from that time period from the 20s.
02:20By the end of the day, I guess it had been in a box for so long.
02:24And it was silk.
02:25It was almost disintegrating on my skin.
02:27I love that feeling when you stand in front of the mirror and you're suddenly like wearing the skin and the clothes of a new character.
02:33And with Lady Rose, it was so exquisitely done.
02:38My dress.
02:39I can't go in this dress.
02:41Can you mend it?
02:42Mend it?
02:43No, no, I'll turn it into something new.
02:44Oh, no, please don't.
02:46This was my mother's.
02:48This is Cinderella from Cinderella in 2015.
02:51Auditioning for Cinderella was one of the most intense periods of my career.
03:00I got told even by my agents, there is no way you're going to get this.
03:03I went in for one of the ugly sisters.
03:06They weren't ugly sisters.
03:07But I went in for one of the sisters.
03:08And I remember I'd wore my most disgusting, like, pink and orange tie-dye jumper.
03:13But because I dyed my hair blonde for Downton Abbey, I guess the casting director, the legendary Lucy Bevan, who I adore, said,
03:22Oh, why don't you read for Cinderella, too?
03:24It was literally, I guess, my hair color.
03:25And before I went in, the casting director and my agents were like, just have fun.
03:29Because you're in front of Disney producers, you're probably not going to get this, but just, like, go for it.
03:35I did take that advice.
03:37I think I was, like, spinning around and dancing around.
03:40There's so much secrecy around it, so I couldn't tell anyone for a really long time.
03:45It's very connected to Downton Abbey.
03:47I remember Laura and Michelle knocking on my door, and they were like, and I couldn't say, but they could tell.
03:52And I sort of celebrated it with that cast, actually.
03:54And then I told my brothers and my mom, and then I couldn't say anything for a really long time.
03:58Very good, Mother.
03:59What is it?
04:00My stepmother and the girls.
04:02Don't worry.
04:03I'll make sure they don't recognize you.
04:05The costumes were out of this world.
04:07They were built from scratch.
04:09I don't think I'll ever witness anything quite like that again.
04:11I mean, the bulgum was made of, like, 14 gossamer-thin layers of different shades of blue silk, iridescent, like, different shining.
04:20And then I had the corset, and it took, like, 40 minutes to get in the dress.
04:23The kind of creation of the whole Cinderella look was such a beautiful, collaborative process.
04:30We had Carol Hemming, who did my hair, and she would stick tiny Swarovski crystals into my hair.
04:35And you had to make sure that the hair could also be recreated as, like, a Disney store wig.
04:40And the slippers, of course, were Swarovski crystal, and they were, obviously, I couldn't put them on my feet.
04:47I had a wonderful foot double, thank God, and green spots on my feet.
04:51During the promotion of Cinderella, all the incredible shoe designers created, like, a Cinderella-inspired slipper, and I have every single one.
05:00At the moment, I have the Jimmy Choo slipper, which is stunning on my mantelpiece.
05:05But there was Louboutin, and it was just really a Charlotte Olympia, and it's kind of my most prized possessions now.
05:14Know what you want?
05:18Your name?
05:19Well, you can get that for free.
05:21It's Debbie.
05:23Deborah.
05:24This is Deborah from Baby Driver from 2017.
05:28I'm a huge fan of Edgar Wright's.
05:29I just would have done anything to be in his movie.
05:32I have found that I can only really be funny by accident, and in the audition, I kept forgetting my lines, and sort of, oh, oh, and he would really think I was hilarious, and then I got the job, and then I just, the part was never funny again.
05:46But it was too late, because I had the job.
05:48I loved, loved, loved, loved working with him and Ansel.
05:53And it felt very iconic, that relationship and the world that Edgar created on those sets and with the costume.
05:59I didn't get to drive as much as I'd have liked, but there was amazing times in the car where Ansel was spinning it around.
06:05Incredible scenes with Jon Hamm in the diner being absolutely terrifying, Aza Gonzalez just being such a kind of firecracker and just so incredibly sexy.
06:17I loved that diner dress.
06:19I thought it was beautifully designed.
06:21It was kind of me getting into the modern age and leaving period dramas behind.
06:26I was really happy to be out of a corset.
06:27The dress was very short, though, so there was other things to contend with.
06:31It's never straightforward.
06:32I'm really excited about the sequel.
06:34Unlike Mamma Mia, I am in it.
06:35I really, really hope it happens.
06:38It's an amazing script.
06:40One more looking like I'll get everything.
06:43Whoa, Mamma Mia, here I go again.
06:48This was me playing young Donna in Mamma Mia.
06:51I was on my way to Glastonbury Music Festival, and I had the whole car packed up, ready to go, and sort of like pulled up, jumped out the car, ran in, had to sing and dance, and then got back in the car and went to the festival.
07:05And then you don't really have signal there, and you kind of disappear for four days.
07:08And I found out I got the job at that time, but hadn't had the phone on me, so I didn't know.
07:12And then I came back from Glastonbury having completely lost my voice and having to go into, like, singing lessons.
07:17I was like, oh, no, I can't speak anymore.
07:20I had loved Mamma Mia, the musical, since I was a kid.
07:24I knew every song off by heart anyway, so it felt so kind of rooted in me, that music.
07:29My favorite part of Donna's style, again, it felt very sort of how I was when I was 18.
07:40A lot of, like, big, chunky jewelry that she'd obviously got, like, on her travels, and a lot of kind of color and the dungarees and floaty dresses.
07:48It was just very reminiscent of that kind of 70s, but could be right now, like, free spirit when you're so young and you're out and you're going to explore the world.
08:00When I was preparing for this, I didn't ever meet Meryl, and then eventually she came and we had this kind of moment where we danced together in the closing credits, and it was really, really special.
08:08I mean, to meet Meryl Streep and have that moment with her was very meaningful for me, and she was so much fun.
08:15I did study her performance.
08:17I remember the main things I noticed.
08:19Her performance is so kind of, like, this amazing way that Meryl Streep can do.
08:23It's kind of larger than life, but completely truthful and honest.
08:27It's a bold character, and I noticed there was a lot of hand gestures and this beautiful expanse in her body language and the way she danced and sang.
08:34And so I did really try and emulate that for sure, and obviously the dungarees helped in connecting us.
08:43Tommy. Tommy.
08:44Come on. We're going to have a blast.
08:46Do not come.
08:49I'm fucking coming.
08:51Goodbye, Tommy.
08:53This is me as Pamela Anderson in Pam and Tommy in 2022.
08:57I did an audition for this. This was something I was offered.
09:00Couldn't believe it. I thought they were utterly insane.
09:02They did then explain the logic behind it, which was that she was the kind of girl next door from Vancouver Island,
09:09and they wanted it to be a surprise for people to go, why have you cast her?
09:12That was kind of part of the trick so that there could be a big transformation.
09:16They had a fake forehead.
09:17Then they stuck the eyebrows on.
09:19I had fake teeth.
09:20Obviously, I had fake boobs.
09:22Took four hours.
09:23So I would, over those four hours, I would be listening to Pamela's voice in my head.
09:29And honestly, I just wanted to capture an essence of her that I'd found in watching her.
09:35Kind of beauty and an innocence.
09:38And I kind of, at that time, and this kind of chaos and romance, impulsivity.
09:43The costumes were so incredible.
09:46Particularly that 90s style was just so kind of cool girl, rock and roll, rebellious, two fingers up.
09:53It just felt like free.
09:55I did keep one outfit.
09:58There's an amazing sequin pink miniskirt and this kind of like V-neck halter neck with this backless, all sequins.
10:04And it was so heavy.
10:06I kept that.
10:06I don't wear it usually together because it's a lot, but I wear them separate.
10:10I felt huge pressure, obviously, to do justice to Pamela Anderson and the story.
10:16Of course, it's a very sensitive story.
10:18And we really wanted to kind of champion her, reshift the narrative.
10:22It was such an iconic rock and roll time.
10:25So stepping into those, they were big shoes to fill.
10:28And working with Sebastian will be one of the great experiences of my kind of acting life.
10:33Because we were both so in it.
10:35We never really entirely spoke to one another as Lily and Sebastian until the movie wraps.
10:40It was so full on and so fast that we kind of stayed in it.
10:44I didn't meet Pam throughout filming.
10:47I did meet her at a Versace fashion show, which was very surreal.
10:53It was brief, but sort of said hello and introduced myself.
10:56And actually, she did invited me to the film of her documentary, which was amazing to watch.
11:00It is a crazy thing to play someone real.
11:03She was just awesome.
11:04Women have to send the first message.
11:06This is going to shift outdated gender dynamics, encouraging equality from the get-go.
11:11Lastly, this is me as Whitney Wolf heard in Swyte.
11:16I read the script and was very bowled over by this woman's story.
11:22She is the founder and creator of Bumble, the dating app.
11:25There was a woman that was moving with such conviction and resilience and tenacity and really breaking boundaries.
11:33And so to explore that moment in tech history where these apps were created, the inception, I thought that was interesting to look back at and celebrate a story about a younger self-made female billionaire.
11:47I wanted to champion that.
11:49We recreated a lot of real looks that Whitney had worn.
11:52I really remember that 2012 skinny jeans, big scarves, and I was dreading it.
11:58I said to the costume designer Beth Morgan, like, you've got to help me out here because it didn't suit me then and it's not going to suit me now.
12:03It doesn't feel so long ago, but it does feel like a very different time stylistically.
12:09And I think there was a journey of her that we as, by the way, completely our interpretation, rejecting your femininity to try and fit in and kind of sit in with the boys' club.
12:22And we kind of explored her wearing kind of more jeans and baggy stuff.
12:25And then as she was finding her strength and her courage, like stepping into her femininity more and owning her femininity.
12:33It's very subtle and nuanced, but, you know, as she steps into Bumble, she's wearing these bright yellow suits.
12:39She's wearing color.
12:41She's in a room of dudes in gray suits and she is owning her light and her womanliness in a way that's super powerful.
12:49I really enjoyed exploring that.
12:51Thank you so much for watching and Swyped is out now on Hulu and Disney+.
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