Lily James believes in ''true love''.

The 25-year-old actress stars in the Sir Kenneth Branagh-directed version of 'Cinderella', playing the central character alongside Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter, and insists she believes in the film's central message.

Speaking about her role in the new movie, Lily told The Sun newspaper: ''I believe in the magic of people and of connections, and I believe in true love.

''I don't know if I believe that you can turn a pumpkin into a carriage, though - unless you're on some crazy drugs.''

Meanwhile, Sir Kenneth revealed recently he was determined his retelling of 'Cinderella' was relevant to a modern audience.

The 54-year-old director said his live-action version of the classic fairytale - which also stars Richard Madden - needed to be significantly different from the original animated version.

Reflecting on his new movie, Sir Kenneth explained: ''I did want to make a film that was about courage and about kindness and about a psychological modernity in the middle of this traditional story.

''The Cinderella myth continues to capture our imaginations.''

Sir Kenneth is more familiar with directing plays written by William Shakespeare, but he still sees similarities between those stories and 'Cinderella'.

He shared: ''We have the line Cinderella is told by her mother: 'Have courage and be kind'; some people thought it seemed trite, but I was reminding them of King Lear when Edgar says 'Have patience and endure' at the point he's being put in the stocks and mocked.

''Patience to me equates to compassion, and endurance is a form of courage - it reminded me that these basic, human and fundamental situations get seized on by great storytellers and there are obvious resonances between all these stories.''