Lily James brings warmth to thinly written romance and a welcome directness when the script allows it. We rate the latter most: in The Iron Claw, her plain speaking gives a sombre film some much-needed ease.
Fi1m perspective
In The Iron Claw (2023), Lily James’s Pam says what she thinks, which makes her unusual in that house. Sean Durkin’s wrestling-family drama gives her scenes with Efron a conversational ease that is scarce elsewhere. We felt relieved in their company because her candour made room for ordinary pleasure amid so much grief. We wanted more of her, and more of the lightness she brings to a household where speaking freely seems to require some nerve.
Lady Rose in Downton Abbey (2012–2015) and the title role in Cinderella (2015) established the early impression, with the latter providing her film breakthrough. Period dramas and literary adaptations were frequent early assignments, and she has since sought more contemporary parts. In Pam & Tommy (2022), playing Pamela Anderson involved conspicuous physical transformation and accent work. That is a clear departure from the ingénue casting, though our preference is for the quieter pleasure of Pam speaking her mind.
Baby Driver (2017) gives her less help. James is engaging as Debora opposite Ansel Elgort, but Edgar Wright’s screenplay treats the romance as settled before it has supplied enough ordinary conversation. We can see why these two would be attracted to one another; their certainty about the relationship is harder to share. The songs carry too much of the courtship, leaving her to make warmth do the work of detail. She does enough to keep the pairing appealing, and Wright’s music-timed heist film is worth the evening, but we wanted to learn more about the woman she was playing.
Mátyás Erdély’s amber-lit ranch interiors in The Iron Claw surround the family with wood panelling and tired-looking faces. James’s plain speaking interrupts the hush without making Pam seem to belong in a different film. That is a useful quality in a supporting actor, and Durkin draws more from it than Wright’s underwritten courtship allows. We would welcome more parts that let her disagree with the people around her. For now, start with Pam, and do not expect the rest of the household to be as forthcoming.
Biography
Lily James is an English actress. Born Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson on 5 April 1989 in Esher, Surrey, she trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She began her career in the British television series Just William (2010) and appeared in Downton Abbey (2012–2015).
Her breakthrough came with the title role in the film Cinderella (2015). She has since starred in Baby Driver (2017), Darkest Hour (2017), Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), Yesterday (2019), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018), The Dig (2021) and The Iron Claw (2023) as Pam. She portrayed Pamela Anderson in the series Pam & Tommy (2022), earning Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
Her paternal grandmother was the American actress Helen Horton.
