I disagree that the stepsisters look better than her, although I wish they had. Cinderella's
inner
beauty should be what attracts the Prince to her, not her physical appearance. It would be much more progressive if the 'Ugly Sisters' were gorgeous blonde supermodel types with really rotten personalities and Cinderella was a slightly plainer looking woman who nevertheless has a stunning, effervescent and intelligent personality.
Remember inner-beauty is more important than physical beauty.

That's certainly what the stupid people think.

I have to agree that she's very average looking. Don't get me wrong, she is extremely presentable, but she's pretty in a young, thin, good clothes and good make up kind of way. She isn't naturally beautiful and is just an average looking girl imo. Her nose is too big and her ears stick out to much for her to be more than pretty. I don't mean to hate. She's an attractive girl being she can afford to be. If people stopped giving her clothes to wear at premieres and she started to shop at walmart on a budget very few people would think she was anything more than average.

Exactly!!

She was fantastic as Cinderella in more ways than just her beauty. She lit up the screen with her great smile and seemed as cheerful as Cinderella is supposed to be.

I found her stunning. You're entitled to your opinion, but to create a thread that this was "bad casting" is over-the-top.
Clearly, most people found her stunning and enchanting: perfect qualities for Cinderella.

LMFAO!!!
Yeah okay..

Finally, someone with a brain that is not superficial! Harvey thanks for your comment I agree with you "Ever After" was an excellent example of the depth that can be captured with fairy tales rather than the usual superficial fluff. The Cinderella in the current movie is in Downtown Abbey and is quite pretty, but lights up the screen with her spirit and sweetnessThis is what Cinderella should be.

Your response to the wrong person is ridiculous.

You people are ridiculous. Just came from the movie and this woman was absolutely gorgeous as Cinderella. She was perfect for the role. You all are way too critical for no reason whatsoever. Just enjoy the damn movie

Just how beautiful does a woman have to be anyway? Lily is beautiful, but can also play Cinderella as a scullery maid and still look good but not too good. She has an inner glow and loveliness. This idea of women's beauty is so ridiculous and is detrimental to all women and especially young girls. Why can't Cinderella be basically pretty with girl-next-door looks and then look stunning as a whole once she is dressed in beautiful clothes, as any girl would when dressed for a prom or other grand event. Everyone has a different standard for beauty, but why are people so hung up on outer beauty!?! It is superficial and fleeting.
Finally. Someone who talks sense.
It demeans the Prince as a character if he is only attracted to Cinderella on a merely superficial physical basis, and it also plays into the offensive notion that physical beauty is all that matters and that physical beauty always equals inner beauty/substance.
Personally I prefer Cinderella films like 'Ever After' in which the ordinarily beautiful Drew Barrymore played down her good-looks and was actually presented as quite plain, physically-speaking, but highly intelligent and strong-willed, whereas one of her nasty step-sisters was conventionally beautiful but utterly shallow and vapid when it came to her personality.

"I wasn't aware that Cinderella had to be absolutely beautiful Just how beautiful does a woman have to be anyway"
She is stunning so I don't know what man would not be attracted to her.. When you can look like a 10 in rags you got it all..

'Lily is beautiful, but can also play Cinderella as a scullery maid and still look good but not too good. She has an inner glow and loveliness.'
EXACTLY how I feel! I have no doubt someone could fall for her instantly.

I wasn't aware that Cinderella had to be absolutely beautiful Just how beautiful does a woman have to be anyway? Lily is beautiful, but can also play Cinderella as a scullery maid and still look good but not too good. She has an inner glow and loveliness. This idea of women's beauty is so ridiculous and is detrimental to all women and especially young girls. Why can't Cinderella be basically pretty with girl-next-door looks and then look stunning as a whole once she is dressed in beautiful clothes, as any girl would when dressed for a prom or other 16d0grand event. Everyone has a different standard for beauty, but why are people so hung up on outer beauty!?! It is superficial and fleeting.

This message has been deleted.

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. I find Gabriella Wilde to be just as average looking as Lily James. Pretty, but by NO means gorgeous. And both are sub-par actresses.

This is Gabriella Wilde's biography:
She is descended from the aristocratic Gough-Calthorpe family. Her father, businessman John Austen Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, is a former chairman of the Watermark Group, and the grandson of baronet Fitzroy Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe. Her mother, Vanessa Mary Theresa (ne Hubbard), is the former wife of socialite Sir Dai Llewellyn, 4th Baronet. Vanessa is a former model who sat for David Bailey and John Swannell. Through her maternal grandfather, Wilde's ancestors include Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon, General Hon. Thomas Gage, and first native-born Mayor of New York City, Stephanus Van Cortlandt. Wilde's maternal grandmother's parents were peers Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, 3rd Baron Howard of Glossop and Mona Fitzalan-Howard, 11th Ba111croness Beaumont. Wilde has a younger sister, Octavia, as well as five half-siblings: Olivia and Arabella, from her mother's first marriage, and Georgiana, Isabella, and Jacobi, from her father's first marriage, to Lady Mary-Gaye Curzon.
So I think it's absolutely hilarious that you'd like to have seen her cast as a character who is associated with the term 'from rags to riches' (that said, since Cinderella was in fact born into wealth that conceit has always been misguided - it was more like 'from riches to rags to riches').
In any case, surely Gabriella Wilde should be playing a princess rather than a character who marries into royalty.

Well, Gabriella Wilde is a horrible actress, but she is gorgeoub68s. Lily James, beautiful and can also act.

I heard they considered Gabriella Wilde for Cinderella and to be honest, I think she would of been a better choice. She's absolutely breathtaking and has the look I imagine for Cinderella. I saw the film today and I was fairly satisfied with Lily but I still think Gabriella would have been better.

I don't think it is fair to say that Lily James isn't pretty, just because your mental image of Cinderella is more aligned with the animated Cinderella from the '50s. This was supposed to be a new, innovative take on the classic, so I think in that sense, she is fitting. Also, don't her character and personality traits of kindness and grace add to attractiveness? What kind of people are we when we rate the attractiveness of an actress portraying a character in a movie over her acting, and also, the goodness of the role she plays? The whole contrast of Cinderella is supposed to be her heart compared to her stepmother and step sisters, and yes, Cinderella is supposed to be "pretty", but her beauty does not solely come from her looks, but her good character. (Pretty much the ENTIRE point of the story, and why it was written for children.) Someone on here suggested Taylor Swift, but they were going PURELY by looks. Taylor Swift is a singer, and furthermore, simply cannot act. At least, she has yet to show that she has any potential in the field of acting. She was briefly in that Valentine's Day film a few years back, and her acting was cringe worthy. (Look up clips on youtube if you don't believe me.) Elle Fanning already played a Disney princess, Aurora in Maleficent (and I actually found her to be rather mis-cast and her acting dull and lacking for the part.) so again, Lily James won the part for her acting, and while she may not be your standard of beauty, to deny that she has no beauty and is "too plain", again, is unfair.

Yes, that's me, Little Miss Lee.
https://imgflip.com/gif/hq1u7

I agree with you, it just feels wrong. She's not beautiful enough to play Cinderella
And also the special affects ruin this movie;
And Richard Madden (the prince) would look better with a beard;
When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.

'Beauty' is an overworked term. It's become meaningless in the past 25 years. Every actress is supposeD to be 'beautiful' these days. Most are average to less than average. But agents and the media think they can pound it into the public mind that these low talent, average girls are BEEEUUUTTIFULLL.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??!!
Maximus Decimus Meridius

You're not only stupid and ignorant, but also dishonest and vile.

You all are basing your opinions of what Cinderella looked like based on an animated tale. The actual Disney story is most closely associated with Cendrillon, by Perrault. In that version she is beautiful but it is her "unparalleled goodness and sweet temper" that makes her truly beautiful and Lily James' version reflects that.