Lily James picks her five favourite films of all time
When Lily James played the young Donna in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, she had the unenviable task of filling the shoes of Meryl Streep. Yet James managed to wow audiences with her style of playing the beloved characters in the world of musicals. James also once revealed her five favourite films of all time in a feature with Rotten Tomatoes.
James’ first pick is Terrence Malick’s directorial debut, Badlands. The 1973 picture starred Martin Sheen as a young man who elopes with a 15-year-old girl – played by Sissy Spacek – and, after killing her father, the two go on a killing spree. Of Spacek, James said: “She’s out of this world, and I just think that film’s so beautiful. I like the relationship and the whole visual world of it. I love that film. I can watch it again and again and again.”
Up next for James is the iconic James Cameron film Titanic, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The film romantically depicts the tragic sinking of a cruise liner ship, and it remains one of the highest grossing of all time and is the first to surpass the billion-dollar mark.
James said of Titanic: “It’s one of the first films I remember really being taken aback by. Any time I’m at home, and if I see that film, whatever point it’s at, I have to watch it ’til the end. I got nodules on my voice, and I realized I could do the ‘Jack. Jack. Jack. I’ll never let go, Jack.’ And I realized I could do it ’cause I’ve ruined my vocal cords, and I could gain that talent, so there we go.”
Musicals also appear to be a profound love of James’, and she seems to hold great adoration for one of the best-loved musicals of all time, Grease. James said of the 1978 picture starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, “I had [it] on cassette tape, and I used to pause and rewind and write down the lyrics of the songs. I’d pause it, and then I’d write it down, and then I’d play it, and then I’d pause it, and I’d write down the words so I could sing along.”
She added: “I used to write in my diary and spray perfume on it like Rizzo does when she sprays the perfume on the thing. I just knew every word. John Travolta is just — oh my God, doesn’t get any better.”
James’ fourth pick is the 1990 film Pretty Woman, directed by Garry Marshall. The film features Julia Roberts and Richard Gere and focuses on a down-and-out Hollywood prostitute and a wealthy businessman who hires her as her escort. The plot centres on the romantic and unexpected development of their relationship.
“It’s such an amazing film, and I think Richard Gere and Julia Roberts had this electric chemistry, and Julia Roberts is a goddess,” James said of the film. “I love the bit where she goes, ‘But when does it ever work for anyone? I mean, when? When?’ Like, a man saving you from your destitute life. And Laura San Giacomo thinks about it, and she goes, ‘You know, Cinde-fucking-rella’.”
Lily James’ five favourite films:
- Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1978)
- Titanic (James Cameron, 1997)
- Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978)
- Pretty Woman (Garry Marshall, 1990)
- The Deer Hunter (Michael Cirmino, 1978)
Finally, James selected Michael Cirmino’s 1978 epic war drama The Deer Hunter as her final selection. The film stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Savage as three returning Vietnam War veterans who struggle to readapt to regular civilian life.
James said of The Deer Hunter: “That opening section at the wedding, it takes its time. Those movies at that time, I think, are some of the best movies in the world. I think it was the calibre of actors that existed then. Those actors, I think, are some of the greatest, and the type of filmmaking that happened then was something so special. It’s so character-based and story-led. None of the big blockbuster crap. Not that blockbusters are crap! But you know what I mean.”
