Lily James has shared her ambitions for getting behind the camera in future, saying it would give her more “control” over the filmmaking process.
The actress, 31, told Harper’s Bazaar UK that she has aspirations to direct and produce her own movies.
“Making a film is such a crazy experience, and suddenly it’s done, and you have no control over it,” she said.
“I think that’s why I maybe want to direct and produce, because I’d like to be more involved.”
James has one of the lead roles in the upcoming Netflix film Rebecca, a Ben Wheatley-directed adaptation of the famous gothic novel by Daphne Du Maurier.
Playing Mrs De Winter opposite Armie Hammer’s Maxim De Winter, James revealed she was excited to get into the mind of the complex character after reading the book while in India.
“The first time I read the book, on a sleeper train in India, it had a huge impact on me,” she said.
“I took the role partly because this person’s journey is so profound, and I love that she sides with a murderer – I mean, that’s screwed up. I just thought: I want to get inside that woman’s head.”
James also shared her feelings about being in her early thirties, saying she still feels “like a child”.
“Lots of girlfriends said to me, ‘Oh, you feel so much relief in your thirties, you know who you are,’” she said.
“I thought I was there, but then realised I’m actually not. I think I’ll probably always be quite a ‘searching’ person.
“I can’t picture getting to a point where I’ll feel like, ‘Oh, I’ve grown.’ I still feel like a child.”
The new adaptation of Rebecca, which was originally made into an Oscar-winning film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940, also stars Kristin Scott Thomas and Keeley Hawes.
It will be released on Netflix on October 21.
The November issue of Harper’s Bazaar is on sale from 1 October 2020.
