What’s it like to shoot a musical where the songs are enormous hits? The very first thing I did was go to Stockholm and record my songs with Benny [Andersson] and Bjorn [Ulvaeus], and suddenly I was in Benny’s studio and I was singing Abba songs in front of Abba. So that happened. And Anthony Van Laast is the choreographer and he’s just the best — a magician of movement. Initially I sort of was like, “No, I don’t want to be told what to do. I need to be an actor where you just figure it out.” And then I slowly began to realize that following this quite rigid structure allowed total freedom within the music and the performance. How does one prepare to play Meryl Streep? [Deep inhale and exhale] Well, I tried to be really proactive about it, just to show that I’d done all the work I possibly could. And I watched the movie thousands and thousands of times and tried to mimic her mannerisms and capture what I thought the essence of Donna was and what Meryl did. And when you finally met? Our paths didn’t cross that much because of the nature of the film. But she seems just really rooted and cool and generous. But you know, she’s Meryl Streep, so she walks in a room and it’s amazing. She was singing in this chapel, and I knew I was about to meet her, and I started to cry. It was just too much to get my head around. And I told myself to pull it together. She is my favorite actress. Then there’s Cher. That was wild. I brought my mom in the day Cher was singing. And me and my mom had this amazing image of watching at the monitors in a dark corner of Pinewood [Studios, near London], just shaking. It was very surreal, this front-row, private, intimate gig of Cher’s. Her voice is so overwhelmingly powerful and rich, and when you hear it in the flesh, it’s mesmerizing. Do you have a favorite scene? There’s a moment when I meet Bill, the young Stellan Skarsgard character played by Josh Dylan, and we dance on the boat on the way to Kalokairi. And there was this magical week when every day we were in the Adriatic Sea [in Croatia], which was just glittering, and dancing on this beautiful boat and Abba was blaring out and it was just too good to be true. Every day on wrap we got to jump into the sea, and the sun would be setting as you’d return home. That’s what I think is so special about [the movie]. If it’s your cup of tea, it’s just joyous.<doc-sep>Gliding down the red carpet in a strapless Oscar de la Renta gown, blonde hair flowing over her shoulders and diamonds glittering in her ears, Lily James looked every inch the A-lister. Heads turned as she made her entrance alongside Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Cher in London this week for the premiere of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, in which Lily, 29, plays the lead role. Graceful, confident and impeccably poised, she might have been made for the spotlight. Lily James in 2010 (left) and leaving her hotel ahead of the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again premiere on Monday But just eight years ago, Lily James looked completely different. Publicity stills from Just William, the BBC series in which she made her screen debut in 2010, show few signs that she was destined for Hollywood success. The starlet, then 21, was pretty but with straggly brown hair, pale skin and none of the luminous elegance she has now. Even she admits to a dramatic makeover, uploading a photo on Instagram this week showing the ‘glam squad’ behind her red carpet look, alongside the caption: ‘This team. Who totally transform me. So grateful for your amazing taste.’ So who has brought about her incredible transformation? Here’s the team responsible for gilding this Lily... SUPER-STYLIST WHO SWEARS BY SPANX Once content to step out in faded jeans and an old white T-shirt, Lily has gone from scruffy teenager to polished princess. Her choice of trendy designer labels — Emilia Wickstead, Valentino, Marchesa and The Vampire’s Wife — are thanks to the sartorial guidance of Rebecca Corbin-Murray, the London-based stylist who’s been by her side since 2012. Glamorous blonde Rebecca, 35, whose other clients include actresses Jenna Coleman and Emma Watson, has been integral to Lily’s transformation, coaxing her through the publicity for Cinderella (her first major movie role) and her first Golden Globes appearance in 2016. Lily says of her: ‘She’s taught me absolutely everything; she’s brilliant.’ As well as selecting her outfits, Rebecca has coached her on how to pose. Before a red carpet do, she makes her stand at a mirror ‘practising different poses, while we take pictures and then go through them and make sure that the way she is standing is the best.’ Rebecca’s enviable fashion connections have also given Lily access to A-list accessories, including a set of Harry Winston diamonds worth £1.2 million, which she wore to the Globes. But it’s not all glitz and glamour: one of Rebecca’s trademarks is buying her clients — even slim ones like Lily — Spanx. ‘It makes for better lines, which makes a dress look so much better,’ she explains. CELEB LOVER WHO HELPS HER SHINE It’s no coincidence that long-term boyfriend, actor Matt Smith, has been by Lily’s side throughout her transformation. If anything, he’s helped coax her into the spotlight. Matt, 35, and Lily have been together since 2014, when they met on the set of comedy film Pride And Prejudice And Zombies. After several months of friendship, they started dating — and were pictured looking close at the Cannes Film Festival in May that year. It’s no coincidence that long-term boyfriend, actor Matt Smith, has been by Lily’s side throughout her transformation Not only did Lily, then little-known to non-Downton Abbey fans, benefit by association with Matt — whose role as Dr Who had catapulted him to stardom — but the pair studiously avoided discussing, or even confirming, their relationship, which only served to fuel speculation. Since then, they’ve made countless red carpet appearances, including the Mamma Mia 2 premiere this week, when Matt — anxious not to steal Lily’s limelight — arrived in a separate car and refused to be pictured with her. The low-key couple, who live in London, sparked engagement rumours when Lily sported a diamond on her ring finger at the Baftas in February — but they have remained silent on the matter. HIS DANCER SISTER WHO’S HER BEST PAL Flame-haired cabaret dancer Laura Jayne Smith, who also runs a raunchy dance troupe called The Girly Show, is Matt’s older sister, and since he got together with Lily, she’s become Lily’s best friend. Laura, 38, is a regular fixture on Lily’s Instagram account and accompanies the star on girly dinner dates, weekends away and swanky red carpet events. The caption on a recent picture of the pair posing cheek-to-cheek trills: ‘You are so beautiful and generous and just spectacular inside and out.’ Coaching her friend through crises of confidence, helping her practise her lines and egging her on to audition for big roles, driven Laura is just the type of girl Lily needs by her side. BODY GURU WHO GOT HER BOXING Hunky James Farmer is Lily’s personal trainer, and the man responsible for whipping her into shape during Cinderella (some suggested she had lost a little too much weight; she insisted a tight corset was to blame). He and Lily met in 2014, on the set of Pride And Prejudice And Zombies — before which the starlet had not done exercise in a long time. ‘I’d been doing Downton Abbey and having way too many biscuits and just drinking tea,’ she recalls. Under James’s tutelage, she started working out five times a week. ‘He had me whacking baseball bats against punching bags, then I started doing boxing, which was really useful. He even had me pushing his car around a car park.’ James, founder of Body Blueprint trainers, counts singers Jessie J and Florence Welch among his clients, and helps stars overhaul their diets as well as their fitness. THE PRINCIPAL WHO SPOTTED POTENTIAL From the age of 14, Lily boarded at the £30,000-a-year Tring Park School for the Performing Arts — alma mater of actress Julie Andrews and singer Sarah Brightman. In sixth form, she took a course in musical theatre, stoking a passion that would become her career. Principal Stefan Anderson spotted Lily’s potential and encouraged her to follow her dream. ‘She was very focused and hard-working,’ he says. ‘She always gave it 100 per cent, even if she was only in the chorus.<doc-sep>Watch: Lily James singing ‘Andante Andante’ in Mamma Mia 2 is just incredible By Maddy Shaw Roberts If you’d forgotten about ‘Andante Andante’ in ABBA’s repertoire of ridiculously good pop songs, Lily James’ rendition will bring it slow-dancing back into your life. Lily James is the critically-hailed breakout star of movie musical Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, playing the young Donna Sheridan – but she’s no newcomer. Trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, James starred as the title role in Cinderella (2015), as well as playing Debora in Baby Driver (2017) last year. As young Donna, James’ voice is beautiful – strong when necessary and fragile when wounded. Complemented by a pair of rather fabulous gold ’70s boots, her foot-stomping performance of ‘Mamma Mia’ is quite something. But it’s her coy rendition of ‘Andante Andante’ which steals the show. Her voice is sweet and husky in the verses, with the higher notes of the chorus bringing out a lovely musical theatre twang in her vocals. We like, a lot – listen below.<doc-sep>Get ready to have Abba songs stuck in your head. "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" hits theaters nationwide today. Lily James talks about starring in the film and shares surprising secrets from the set. 1. James met with the film’s director to ensure there'd be no slut-shaming James stars as a young Donna Sheridan, a character last portrayed by Meryl Streep. Sheridan has intimate relationships with several men and is not sure who fathered her daughter. James told ABC News there's no slut-shaming in the film -- instead it celebrates woman. "When I was going to do this and I spoke to the director, I was like [Sheridan's sexuality] needs to be celebrated. Sexual choice and freedom needs to be something that is never apologized for. And I think that’s a rare story we get now even in modern films where you get to glory in that as a woman,” James said in an appearance this week on “Popcorn with Peter Travers." 2. James plays a young Meryl Streep, but didn’t spend much time with the Oscar winner James said didn’t meet Meryl Streep right away. Instead she prepared for her role by watching the original “Mamma Mia” film “millions and trillions of times. I can quote every second of that movie,” she said. “By the time I met her, we were quite far into filming. And I think she just wanted to let me get on with it and own it,” James said. “When I did finally meet her, I was trying not to cry. And she gave me such a big bear hug. And she was so generous and cool. She let me feel like I was on the right track. In a way, it felt like I had her blessing.” 3. ‘Mamma Mia 2’ was not filmed in Greece “I know that they had the most marvelous time in Greece the first time around. They were welcomed and loved. And we had the same experience on Vis this time. It was incredible. It was just stunning,” James said. “You’ve got to go there. It’s picture perfect.” 4. James performed those wild dance numbers with a broken toe You won’t know it when you see her in action, but James was injured on set. Still she pushed forward and completed all of her dance scenes. “I had a broken toe. I had smashed my toe on a lighting stand because I’m so clumsy. That was quite traumatic,” James, 29, told Peter Travers. “My favorite (scene) was ‘Mama Mia’ though, doing that with the two girls Justin (Keenan Wynn) and Alexa (Davies), the dynamos, there was this feeling of girl power and utter freedom and empowerment and just balls. I was living my best girl band life and it was as good as I thought it would be.” 5. She may have been destined to star in a musical James believes her childhood may have prepared her for this role and this time in her life. Her parents introduced to the theater at a young age. “Every year for my birthday, when I was a young girl up to a teenager, we’d get on the train to London. And we’d walk to a theater. I wouldn’t know which one in West End. And we’d suddenly look up and I’d be like ‘ah, I’m seeing “Mamma Mia.” Or I’m seeing “Avenue Q.” or ‘Les Mis’ or whatever it would be. It would be a surprise. And it was my love. It was where I was happiest. I loved the theater. It has been kind of emotional coming back to something that was so important to me as a child.” "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" is in theaters everywhere. 0:00 Be sure to watch the full interview with Peter Travers and Lily James in the video above.<doc-sep>
After Lily James took on weighty roles in Darkest Hour and War & Peace, her agents weren’t so sure she’d entertain a decidedly less cerebral offer: playing a younger version of the dancing queen Donna Sheridan – a role made famous by Meryl Streep – in the sequel to Mamma Mia!, the 2008 musical blockbuster built around songs by the Swedish pop group Abba. “I was like, ‘Are you crazy? It sounds great!’” says James, who eagerly detoured on her way to the Glastonbury Festival to audition for the film. But after learning that the part was hers, she got cold feet. “I really panicked about taking on the role of Donna after Meryl had so magically and vividly brought it to life,” she says. “I panicked about the singing and the dancing and the time to prepare. And then I finally decided to bite the bullet.” In Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, James flashes back as young Donna, an effervescent Oxford graduate who meets not one but three dashing young men on her way to the Greek isle of Kalokairi and ends up pregnant, father unknown. Flash forward to the present, where her daughter, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), is honouring her mother with the opening of the Hotel Bella Donna. Then a storm Ruby blows in, by way of Cher. James, 29, first captured people’s attention in 2013 as the spirited Lady Rose in Downton Abbey before twirling through the title role in Disney’s Cinderella in 2015, and riding shotgun last year as a southern American waitress in Baby Driver. On her way to catch a flight from London to Stockholm for the Mamma Mia! premiere, she cheerfully chats by phone about the perils of channelling Streep and the power of Cher. ✕ Trailer for Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again First things first: where did you get your singing chops? Well, my dad was a good singer. He was in a band called Two Way, with the actor Anthony Head, and had a record. He sang and played guitar, so I guess it was from him. Not my mum. She’s pretty tone deaf. You’d already sung in Cinderella. Were you nervous about auditioning? I sang a few songs – “I Have a Dream” and “Mamma Mia” – and went into a room with the choreographer, the producers and the director. So it was a really scary room. But I was such a big fan of the musical, and I’d seen it a lot when I was younger, and I loved the movie. I just felt like it captured the heart of what the stage production was, and that’s hard to do – keep the same essence and vibe, and keep people jumping up and down. You shall go to the ball: Lily James as Cinderella (Rex) (Rex Features) What’s it like to shoot a musical where the songs are enormous hits? The very first thing I did was go to Stockholm and record my songs with Benny [Andersson] and Bjorn [Ulvaeus], and suddenly I was in Benny’s studio and I was singing Abba songs in front of Abba. So that happened. And Anthony Van Laast is the choreographer and he’s just the best – a magician of movement. Initially, I sort of was like, ‘No, I don’t want to be told what to do. I need to be an actor where you just figure it out’. And then I slowly began to realise that following this quite rigid structure allowed total freedom within the music and the performance. How does one prepare to play Meryl Streep? Well, I tried to be really proactive about it, just to show that I’d done all the work I possibly could. And I watched the movie thousands and thousands of times and tried to mimic her mannerisms and capture what I thought the essence of Donna was and what Meryl did. And when you finally met? Our paths didn’t cross that much because of the nature of the film. But she seems just really rooted and cool and generous. But you know, she’s Meryl Streep, so she walks in a room and it’s amazing. She was singing in this chapel, and I knew I was about to meet her and I started to cry. It was just too much to get my head around. And I told myself to pull it together. She is my favourite actress. Then there’s Cher... That was wild.