Lily James’ situationship with her co-star Dominic West might have been brief, but the consequences of the relationship are still following her months later.
In October 2020, The Pursuit of Love actors were photographed around the town in Italy. The paparazzi shots showed James and West kissing and holding hands while sightseeing in Rome. It’s not exactly unheard of for co-stars to be seen in photos together, or even fall for each other while working on a project, but this romantic connection was complicated by the fact that West was very much married at the time.
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Even wilder was the fact that just days after the photos surfaced, West returned to Wiltshire, England and reunited with his wife Catherine FitzGerald. The married couple posed for photographers outside of their family home, kissing and holding each other before sharing their only statement via a brief handwritten note: “Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together. Thank you.”
Somebody hang Dominic West's handwritten note in the Smithsonian where it belongs pic.twitter.com/p1eiJU5AgZ
— Caitlin McBride (@mcbride_caitlin) October 13, 2020
Months later, both stars have resumed their normal lives, but James is unfortunately still dealing with the reverberations of the scandal. The actress spoke to The Guardian about her role in the upcoming BBC adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s 1945 novel, and her co-star West’s name unfortunately came up. James had a curious answer to the question, hinting that there is much more to the story than we know.
“Ach, I’m not really willing to talk about that,” she replied carefully. “There is a lot to say, but not now, I’m afraid.”
It makes sense that James doesn’t want to talk about the drama between her and West; it’s her business, and it happened more than six months ago. What makes less sense is the fact that she’s the one being asked about it instead of West. Even after the pictures went viral, it seems like West was able to emerge from of the scandal unscathed; despite being the talk of the town (and not really in the best way), he was able to nab the prestigious role as Prince Charles in the final seasons of The Crown. Two people were involved in...whatever it was that they were doing and yet James is the only one still being forced to deflect questions about it.
At the end of the day, we may never know what exactly James and West were doing together in Rome. But maybe it should stay that way — especially since she doesn't particularly care to clear it up six months after it happened.