Lily James: I’d like a few months off to go travelling

The actress has worked solidly since departing the ITV drama, starring in Cinderella, War And Peace, Baby Driver, Darkest Hour, The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society – and the upcoming Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again.

She told the new issue of Marie Claire: “I’d like a few months where I go travelling and just switch off.

“When you’re an actor, it’s like, you’ve got to keep the momentum up.

“And I’m like, ‘No!’ You have to trust that things won’t go away if you stop for a bit.

“I haven’t really stopped, and I don’t think that’s a feasible way to work. For me, eventually, that’s not the lifestyle I want.

“You never really know where you are. That’s not only with regards to my relationship with Matt, but with my friends and family. There’s so much you miss.

“That’s why I know I can’t keep working at this intensity. I finish a job; Matt starts one.”

She added that she is hoping to buy a house with the former Doctor Who actor, saying: “We want to get somewhere. That’s going like, ‘Can we go furniture shopping?’

“We bought a rug from there [points to a shop over the road], and I love getting flowers and making things look nice.”

James also addressed her singing performance in the upcoming Mamma Mia sequel, saying: “In no way did it make me feel like [a pop career] was my calling.

“It did make me realise I love singing… I used to sing all the time.

“I think acting sort of took over and I also screwed my voice. I kept losing it from stress. It started in Cinderella.

“You can’t miss a day, so you keep talking through it and go on steroids – and over the next few years I damaged it so much, I stopped singing.

“I got into a weird relationship with my voice where I was frightened of it, but the tone changes as you age. It was freeing and wonderful to embrace it [again].”

The full interview is in the July issue of Marie Claire, which is out now.