Lily James cried before meeting acting legend Meryl Streep for the first time on the set of the sequel to Mamma Mia!
The Cinderella actress plays the younger version of Meryl’s character Donna in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, the sequel to the 2008 hit musical.
In an interview with NET-A-PORTER’s digital magazine PorterEdit, the 29-year-old British star admitted she felt a lot of pressure in taking on the role of the young Donna, and often felt like she was going to “screw up”. And ahead of her first encounter with Meryl on set, Lily revealed she became very emotional and started weeping with nerves.
“(Meryl) was singing this song in a chapel and it was so emotional. I was sat outside knowing I was about to meet her. And crying,” she said. “And it was like: Hold it together, Lily! It was too much!”
However, the three-time Best Actress Oscar winner soon put her at her ease.
“(Meryl) was just so cool. We had to do this dance together and she gave it all to me, she let me take my moment,” she gushed.
It helped that Lily did her homework before heading to the set by cramming on some of her favourite movies from The Devil Wears Prada star’s filmography.
“I loved watching Postcards from the Edge – there’s a spunky kind of madness where she sings in that – and even Death Becomes Her.”
Meanwhile, when asked about her boyfriend Matt Smith’s comments about wanting “lots of children”, Lily admitted she is just as keen as The Crown actor.
“Yeah, a lot of our friends are having kids… It’s amazing to see what that brings to your life,” she smiled. “You know, it becomes the most important thing, and that kind of shift is something I look forward to.”
However, she denied that the pair were engaged after she was spotted wearing a ring on her engagement finger at the BAFTAs in February (18).
“It’s stupid, probably, but I just put rings on any finger. Also, that was a f**k-off (massive) ring. I mean, Jesus. That ring’s worth one million pounds… ,” she laughed.
