Cinderella Star's Surprising Family Tie to Alien Classic

In a recent interview, Lily James, the star of the 2015 film Cinderella, has opened up about her special connection to the 1979 sci-fi classic Alien. It turns out that James' grandmother, American actress Helen Horton, provided the voice for the computer known as 'Mother' on board the spaceship Nostromo, where the majority of the film takes place.

James says that whenever she watches Alien, she is struck by the familiar sound of her grandmother's voice. "I was watching it recently because I was thinking of Sigourney Weaver as an inspiration for a role I was hoping to play," James explained. "And I do just stop in my tracks every time, like, 'My God, this is crazy, that's my grandma!'"

The actress remains in awe of her grandmother's presence in the film, even though she was just a disembodied computer voice. "Her voice was magic," James recalled. "She had one of those beautiful, rich, almost-British voices that all of those iconic movie stars of that time had."

James also revealed that she used this connection to impress director Edgar Wright while making her 2017 film Baby Driver. "The only time I've really played that card was to impress Edgar Wright," she said. "Like, 'I don't know if you know, but my grandmother...'"