A killer groom?

‘Our Cinderella is a really strong woman dealing with life on her own terms’

—LILY JAMES

always storytelling.” Scottish-born Madden, 28, calls Game of Thrones “a mad journey”—he’s still close friends with much of the cast—and a perfect career launching pad. On Cinderella, “it was nice to be on a set where I wasn’t in fear of my life,” he says with a laugh.

James and Madden, who both envision the perfect weekend as involving “a good book,” will reunite in 2016 on the London stage for Romeo and Juliet. Their significant others are costars too, from the U.K. series Doctor Who: She dates Matt Smith, 32, and he dates Jenna Coleman, 28. Is there such a thing as true love? “I really do believe in it,” says James. “In life, you meet people and this connection happens and you feel enriched because you know them. You feel like you can achieve anything.”

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All About Cinderella’s Costumes!

1. Cinderella’s iconic ball gown “needed to be big but look like it was made of air,” says costume designer Sandy Powell, a three-time Oscar winner. A corset (no CGI) gave James that tiny waist, and she and Madden “had to develop ways of dancing so they wouldn’t be treading on the skirt.” Jokes Madden: “There were three of us in the relationship. It was Cinderella, her dress and me!” 2. Cate Blanchett collaborated with Powell on the stepmother’s look, inspired by steely ’40s sirens like Joan Crawford. Says Powell of Blanchett: “She likes clothes, and she knows how to wear them.” 3. “They’re ugly from within. We wanted them to be pretty and vain and silly,” says Powell of the stepsisters. —JEFF NELSON & SCOTT HUVER

FROM DOWNTON TO DISNEY!

It’s an upstairs-downstairs switch! Sophie McShera, who as servant Daisy cooked for James’s aristocratic Rose on Downton Abbey (near left), plays one of the wicked stepsisters who boss Cinderella around. McShera loved the costume upgrade: “I was so excited!”