Lily James continues to strike ‘post-Downton Abbey’ gold with ‘All About Eve’


Fresh on the heels of her starring role as the ‘young-Donna’ in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Lily James is reportedly headed to London’s West End alongside Golden Globe-winning actor, Gillian Anderson, in the stage adaptation of All About Eve. While a majority of James’ highly successful post-Downton Abbey career has been on the big and small screen with roles in Cinderella, War & Peace, Baby Driver and Darkest Hour, Anderson was last seen on the London stage as Blanche DuBois in the Young Vic revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, for which she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress in 2014.

Lily James, who played Lady Rose in Downton Abbey, will play a famous screen character whose name has become a synonym for calculating climbers, Eve Harrington, with Anderson playing the role of Margo Channing, taking over for Cate Blanchett who withdrew from the production earlier this year due to a scheduling conflict.

The celebrated 1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz film starred Bette Davis in one of her signature roles as Margo, the prominent yet aging Broadway star, and Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington, a willingly helpful young fan who insinuates herself into Channing’s life, leaving her vulnerable to ambitious Eve’s opportunism. The movie was nominated for 14 Oscars and won six, including best picture.

Performances will reportedly begin in February 2019 at the Noel Coward Theatre in London.


In: Drama