'Cinderella' Trailer Introduces Us to a New Enchanted Heroine
Which fair maiden will don the glass slipper? Get a glimpse of her above, in the first trailer for Disney’s live-action Cinderella, hitting theaters on March 13. Just be warned: This isn’t exactly the princess you remember from the 1950 animated movie or from the classic Grimms’ fairy tale.
Downton Abbey's Lily James plays Ella, the lovely lady with the wicked stepsisters who make her do all the dirty housework and later add the “Cinder” to her name to taunt her. This Ella is certainly not waiting around for her Prince Charming (Richard Madden from Game of Thrones). "We built the film around the idea that even though Cinderella would be delighted to find love, her life would not and could not be defined by whether she finds a man," director Kenneth Branagh (Thor) tells Yahoo Movies. “She likes herself, and she has no sense of self-pity or being any kind of victim.”
Perhaps most notable of Cinderella's additions are scenes from Ella's past featuring Hayley Atwell (the Captain America series) as her late mother. We also spy Helena Bonham Carter as her fairy godmother and Cate Blanchett as her imperious stepmother, Lady Tremaine. “It isn’t as simple as meeting an entirely cruel person,” says Branagh of Ella’s chief tormentor. “[Blanchett] gives a sense of depth and wounds along the way that are not making a plea for sympathy, but definitely complicate one’s reaction to her.”
While the movie is indeed live action, certain elements stay true to the story’s animated past, including the enchanted mice, the sparkly fairy dust, and those shimmering glass slippers.
As for locating the right actress to fill those high-heeled kicks, Branagh admits it was almost as difficult as finding Chris Hemsworth for Thor. “It was months and months and many auditions; then tests and then screen tests. And Lily was incredibly patient through that process,” says Branagh, who auditioned hundreds of women for the part. In the end, James had the quality the filmmakers were after, he says, which was an innate goodness “that’s also sexy and cool.”
Since this storybook heroine is so self-possessed, look for more intensity between her and her wicked foes in this version. “It’s a clash of the titans,” Branagh says of the conflict between Lady Tremaine and Ella. “[Cinderella] does take life’s blows — the loss of loved ones and the cruelty and ignorance of other people,” Branagh says. “But she is able to enjoy every moment to the full.”
Photo: Disney/Annie Leibovitz
