Lily James schooled herself in Meryl Streep, Abba for Mamma Mia flick

The new movie musical sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again undoubtedly belongs to Lily James, playing the younger version of Meryl Streep's free-spirited character Donna Sheridan from the first movie 10 years ago.

The 29-year-old British actress was "a hundred per cent on board" when she landed the plum role but once the job was confirmed, panic set in.

She said at our interview at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden: "The reality of it sank in and I wondered whether it was crazy to try and take on such a character. But then I decided to just go for it, the way Donna would.

"So I watched the (first) movie hundreds of times, and I can mimic the whole film, every gesture, every eye roll.

"And then I watched a lot of Meryl's films from when she was younger. I found Postcards From The Edge (1990) where she sings and she is sort of manic, that was useful. There was an abandon that felt right for Donna. Then on the day (of filming), I had to just surrender to the moment."

In Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which is showing here, the story flashes back to the 70s when a young Donna goes to Greece on holiday. She romances three young men, gets pregnant and gives birth to her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried).

Even though it looked effortless on screen, the prep took a while for James.

She said: "I was not trying to learn how Meryl acts. It was more about the essence of Donna.

"So I really watched how she stands and how she sits in her hips. I practised her laugh. I recorded everything she says and listened to it before I would do my scenes."

James started learning the songs of Swedish pop group Abba for the sequel while she was on the press tour for last year's crime-romance Baby Driver.

She said: "I had only a month from when I got the job to when I started. So I listened to them non-stop and sang them as much as I could. Then a week before recording, I was so worried of losing my voice, I just did not speak for a week, which is almost impossible for me.

"And then we had a few days here in Stockholm in (Abba member Benny Andersson's) studio, and I walked in and Benny went straight over to the piano and started playing My Love, My Life and I just started singing.

"And suddenly it was just happening and (Abba member) Bjorn (Ulvaeus) was rewriting lyrics."

She showed the pair a video she had made of her mum's birthday party that had them laughing.

"I was a little drunk at the end of the night, and I was dancing on the table singing The Winner Takes It All with my mum's boyfriend, holding up a cake knife as my microphone.

"My family was like, 'Sing in Swedish', and I was like doing my Meryl, and then like three months later, I was recording with them (Abba) in the studio. It was surreal."

ABBA-LIKE COSTUMES

And then there were the crazy Abba-like costumes for Donna's girl band, The Dynamos, with her two best girlfriends (Jessica Keenan Wynn and Alexa Davies).

She said: "I went into my fitting and I was like, yes! We did not feel like them until we got those outfits on. Suddenly the dances and the singing made sense and the girl power just sort of surged out of us."

When asked if there are any dreams she wants to fulfil - like marriage and a family, James, who is dating British actor Matt Smith, 35, said: "I am more like Donna in that way, I do not dream of that stuff.

"I just want to take life each day and invent my own rules, and I am having a great time in my life and I am so happy. I have amazing family, friends and relationships.

"But I am at a point where coming to the end of my 20s, I have been working non-stop and playing so many different roles that I feel a bit like I am losing a sense of myself.

"I want to slow down a bit. I think not necessarily with work but just with connecting with myself."

But the blonde beauty - who came into prominence in 2012 as socialite Lady Rose McClare in the historical period drama Downton Abbey and went on to shoot a slew of movies such as Cinderella, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, Baby Driver, Darkest Hour and The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society will make time for the Downton Abbey movie that was recently announced.

"I do not know how much I can say, but yeah, I guess. Watch this space," she said with a laugh.