If only she had a fairy godmother...
In an exclusive clip from Walt Disney Pictures' Cinderella, Ella (Lily James) is still adjusting to life after the sudden death of her merchant father (Ben Chaplin). To honor her dearly departed, Ella agrees to serve her stepmother Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) and her stepsisters Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drisella (Sophie McShera). Though she is at their mercy and often disrespected, Ella never complains.
As her late mother (Hayley Atwell) once told her, she must "have courage and be kind."
That's easier said than done, of course.
In this exclusive clip, Ella is mending the fire as her Evil Stepmother arrives for breakfast. "In the future, can we not be called until the work is done?" Lady Tremaine scolds her.
Ella calmly replies, "As you wish."
After taking her seat, a sharply dressed Lady Tremaine asks, "Ella, what's that on your face?"
As Ella places a tray of toast on the table, Anastasia explains, "It's ash from the fireplace." Rather than acknowledge Ella's efforts, though, Lady Tremaine turns villainous.
"Do clean yourself up," she instructs.
"You'll get cinders in our tea," Anastasia complains.
So dramatic!
Drisella takes the group bullying a step further, shouting, "I've got a new name for her: Cinder-Wench!" Anastasia suggests "Dirty-Ella," but Drisella has another idea: "Cinderella! That's what we'll call you!" With a wicked grin, Lady Tremaine looks at her daughters.
"Oh, girls!" she says. "You're too clever."
Clearly, the apples don't fall far from the tree.
After Ella finishes serving her stepmother and stepsisters, she sets a place for herself at the table. "Who's this for?" Lady Tremaine asks. "Was there someone we've forgotten?" Ella explains that it's her place, but her stepmother dismisses the very thought. "Oh, it seems too much to expect you to prepare breakfast, serve it and still sit with us," Lady Tremaine says.
"Wouldn't you prefer to work when all the work is done, Ella—or should I say, Cinderella?"
Five-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh directed Cinderella. In November 2014, he explained why James was the perfect fit for Cinderella's slippers.
"Goodness can seem pious. It can seem righteous. It can seem too good to be true. We needed Cinderella to remain funny, sexy, smart and crucially kind," he told E! News. "There was talk way back about redefining goodness as a superpower and kindness in the same way. I think it can be very active and charismatic and compelling, but it needs to be lightly done. This Cinderella, she's not empowered in the sense of being adversarial or self-pitying or victimized. She makes her own choices and she doesn't indulge in her own pain or have any regard for her own hardships. She's generous of spirit, and we needed that in the actress. Lily has great generosity of spirit, which really you can't fake. I think the audience will intuit that. She is good company. She's un-showy, yet she's charismatic. And she wants to enjoy herself! She takes the blows in the movie. There's loss—the loss of loved ones. There's the cruelty and ignorance of other people. She knows love can be fleeting and so she's determined to enjoy it. Underneath all of that comes this sense of fun and this sense of humor. I think she's fun and funny."
Cinderella arrives in theaters March 13.