Meet Lily James, the Feminist Cinderella br Lily James knows she’s living every little girl’s dream. There’s the glass slipper, sure, and that gorgeous ball gown, too—CGI’d waist or otherwise. But as the 25-year-old star of Cinderella tells it, she’s experiencing a different kind of wish fulfillment. br br “People talk a lot about, ‘You’re a Disney princess! You’re Cinderella!’ and this and that,” she tells The Daily Beast from the carriage (in this case a private car) that’s whisking her from one ball to another (in this version of the fairy tale, events in an exhausting Disney press tour). “But for me it’s all about the fact that I worked with Cate Blanchett and was directed by Kenneth Branagh. That’s the Cinderella story for me.” br br It’s a refreshing message from the girl who’s been labeled, incessantly, a “real-life Cinderella” in the weeks leading up to Friday’s release of the new film. For all the ways her life has uncannily mirrored that of the saintly girl with the dainty feet, and certainly for all of the jaw-dropping, Cinderella-inspired looks the self-described “tomboy” has been wearing on red carpets, being cast in the narrative was inevitable. br But that the real ball is sharing the screen with an Oscar-winning actress tells you all you need to know about James and this film’s “take” on Cinderella. br br It reflects our society’s evolving relationship with fairy tales, too.