Lily James is tired of talking about her body.
Much has been said about the actress' tiny waist in Walt Disney Pictures' Cinderella, but for James, it's not something she ever thought she would need to address during the film's press tour. In a HuffPost Live interview Monday, she was asked, "Did you think that it was going to cause this much of a to-do?"
"Of course not. On one hand, it's upsetting. On the other hand, it's just boring. Why do women always get pointed at for their bodies?" the 26-year-old British actress fired back. "And why is this whole thing happening that I'm constantly having to justify myself? International Women's Day has just gone, and it just feels just a bit sad that it's still happening. And, you know, I'm very healthy and I always have been."
Sandy Powell designed the iconic dress that Cinderella wears to the ball. "It goes in at the waist and the skirt is big and full so that it accentuates the shape," James explained. "I felt like a princess wearing it."
James added, "Corsets are always hard to wear—they just are. That's what they are."
Richard Madden, who plays Prince Charming, came to James' defense. "I can vouch for Lily on this. That's her real waist. I held it. I know how tiny it was. And she did eat. She eats like a boy!" he joked.
On a more serious note, James said she "shouldn't have to" field questions about her frame. "Obviously I haven't been under such a limelight before, but I really have been lucky because I've always had a very healthy attitude towards my body, so that's why in a way it's confusing me, because I don't feel like [it's an issue]...and it's a costume!" the actress said on HuffPost Live. "Yeah. That's all I can say about that."
Last week, James told E! News she went on a liquid diet during filming. "When [the corset] was on we would be on continuous days so we wouldn't stop for lunch or a lovely tea like this—you'd be sort of eating on the move," she revealed. "In that case, I couldn't untie the corset. So if you ate food it didn't really digest properly and I'd be burping all afternoon in [Richard Madden]'s face, and it was just really sort of unpleasant. I'd have soup so that I could still eat but it wouldn't get stuck." The Downton Abbey actress wants to be a positive role model, saying, "For girls growing up, sometimes I think they get the wrong idea for what women should look like. And I think it's so important to be healthy and confident and natural. And not put too much stress on trying to be thin—I don't get the thin, thin thing at all."