Lily James returns to work after kissing scandal; friends come forward in defence

Lily James has returned to work for the promotion of her upcoming Netflix movie "Rebecca," days after she made headlines when pictures surfaced of her apparently kissing married actor Dominic West in Italy.

While Dominic West put on a united front with his wife Catherine Fitzgerald as they kissed for the press, Lily James faced the camera once again as she participated in a video call with her co-star Armie Hammer to promote "Rebecca".

Armie, who plays the role of widower Maxim de Winter in the adaptation of 1938 gothic novel by Daphne du Maurier, shared a picture of a video call he took part in alongside James while joking: "Press tours are so glamorous in 2020." In the video, the actress was seen sitting in front of a large fireplace in a grey and white dress.

Meanwhile, the former "Downton Abbey" star appeared in a Harper's Bazaar interview as well. In the video interview which was shot remotely last month, the actress spoke about Mrs de Winter, her character in the movie, the similarity in their rebellious streak, and admitted to making mistakes "all the time."

"She is this free wild woman who breaks every rule," the 31-year-old said about her character in "Rebecca," adding: "I feel I've rebelled in that way, I was always a rebellious teenager and I think it's important to rebel in that way."

In the interview which she gave while shooting BBC drama "The Pursuit of Love" alongside Dominic West in Somerset, James spoke about "making mistakes," and said: "I think I make mistakes all the time and I feel that's what life's about and I would never want to run away from a situation or be too scared to act."

James further praised her character in the romantic thriller for going "against all norms as a woman." She said: "(Mrs de Winters) disobeyed her husband and had affairs was basically just brilliant and that was only in the 30s and people are afraid of women when they're unleashed and women are warriors and that's intimidating."

Meanwhile, the pals of the actress have defended her amid the kissing scandal, insisting that the photos of her with West are deceptive. A friend told The Sun: "Lily is absolutely devastated by how this whole situation has played out. No one but she and Dominic, and one of their mutual agents who was with them for much of the day, really knows what the score is. Yet, she is being portrayed as this home-wrecking man-eater."

"Dominic and his wife have done their very public kissing and making-up but Lily has no one fighting her corner. Instead, she's getting terribly trolled on social media and she is very, very hurt by all the abuse," the source explained.