What Almost Ruined the Cinderella Film, Reveals Richard Madden

Cinderella
The modern-day Cinderella is no damsel in distress. |

During the second day of filming for Disney's live action movie Cinderella, Scots actor Richard Madden who portrays the Prince received the worst news imaginable - everything they had shot was going to be scrapped.

He and the other actors included in the film - Downton Abbey alum Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Derek Jacobi, and Helena Bonham Carter - actually thought that they were to blame for the news.

"We were saying, it's because we're rubbish," Madden told The Daily Record UK in an interview.

But the truth was that the bad news in filming is not about the actors, but rather a simple technical mistake. "There had been a problem with the film. There was a hair in the lens so they'd lost everything," he said.

Surprisingly, the 28-year-old Madden, who is known for his portrayal of the ill-fated Robb Stark in the Game of Thrones series is well-versed in all of Disney's animated films, and it is because of the influence of his two sisters.

Madden says he knows all the songs backwards from the animated film because of the number of times his sisters have seen it. He felt thankful that the new Cinderella did not have any musical numbers; otherwise, he was quite sure he would not be cast if he had to sing.

It is the first time Madden was chosen to play a lead role, and he admitted that he drew inspiration from actor slash director Kenneth Branagh.

"Kenneth knows people can be a little intimidated by him, so he knows how to put them at their ease," he said. "Royalty have the same effect so I used some of Kenneth's charm in my performance as the Prince."

The role of the Prince might seem like a dream come true, but Madden actually considers it somewhat of a nightmare because of his colourful and tight-fitting wardrobe.

Still, Madden says that his co-star James had it worse since her ball gown is far harder to wear than his costumes. He even joked that there were three people in their relationship - him, James, and the dress. 

Cinderella also had an elaborate dance scene, but because of Madden's inexperience, their costumes suffered. They had to go through two practice dresses because the first one "got caught up and looked as if they'd been torn by cats."

Madden and James really had amazing onscreen chemistry that they will be reuniting in the West End production of Romeo and Juliet.

He will also star in another television series called Lady Chatterley's Lover alongside Holliday Granger.