Lily James says she ‘despaired’ when she went on a dating app

Lily James has said she “despaired” when she went on a friend’s dating profile recently due to the calibre of men on the app.

The actress, 33, stars in a new romantic comedy, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, which explores the contrasting cultural approaches of dating app obsession and arranged marriages when trying to find love in the modern world.

James plays filmmaker and dating app addict Zoe, who documents the process of childhood friend Kaz, portrayed by Shazad Latif, turning to his parents to help organise an arranged marriage as the 32-year-old British-Pakistani doctor has not been able to find the right match.

Appearing on Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp on Monday, James reflected on if she related to her character Zoe being unlucky in love and if she cringed at past relationships.

She said: “I cringe at most things I do. I’ve been a sort of serial relationshipper, so I’ve not had any crazy dating stories.

“However, I did go on my mates’ Hinge the other day and I just despaired. I mean come on!”

The actress said the men on the dating app were “rubbish”, adding: “I’m sure some of the girls are crap too but men are worse.”

In the film, her character pursues different connections and her mother, played by Dame Emma Thompson, also attempts to matchmake her with a vet, with little success.

James admitted a particular cheesy quote by one of the men was a turn-off for her, revealing: “There’s a line in the film where my character is looking at this guy and he’s got a sentimental quote and she’s like, ‘He’s fit enough that I’ll overlook the sentimental quote’, which is ‘every day is a new rainbow’, but that would be a bit of a turn-off for me.”

She had her breakout roles in Downton Abbey and in 2015’s Cinderella in which she played the title role.

She went on to star in a number of films including 2017’s Baby Driver and 2018 musical sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and portrayed Pamela Anderson in last year’s biographical series Pam & Tommy.

James said her rise to fame has been “wild” and confessed it is still “surreal” to see her face on bus posters.

Listen to Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp on weekdays from 6am to 10am across the UK and on Global Player.