Miranda Richardson
|
Miranda Richardson as Queenie in Blackadder II (1986) |
Miranda Richardson (born
3 March 1958, in
Southport,
Merseyside) is an
Academy Award nominated
English actress.
The second daughter of
middle-class parents, she had a talent for acting from an early age.
Richardson had originally intended to study
veterinary medicine, but her squeamishness made this impossible. She enrolled at the world famous
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where she studied alongside
Daniel Day-Lewis. In
1981, she made her stage debut in
Moving at the
Queen's Theatre in
London.
Three years later, she made her big screen debut as platinum blonde nightclub hostess
Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom in
Mike Newell's critically acclaimed biographical drama,
Dance with a Stranger. Her performance in that film won her much praise, and within a year, she had been cast by
Steven Spielberg to appear in his
World War II drama
Empire of the Sun (
1987).
Richardson is perhaps best known for her role as infantile
Queen Elizabeth I, aka
Queenie, in the cult British comedy
Blackadder. Other television roles include the bitchy Pamela Flitton in
A Dance to the Music of Time (
1997), Miss Gilchrist in
St. Ives (
1998), Bettina (the obsessive compulsive interior decorator) in
Absolutely Fabulous, The Wicked Stepmother
Hallmark's "Snow White: The Fairest of Them All", along with
Kristin Kreuk (
2001) and the emotionally repressed
Queen Mary in
The Lost Prince (
2003).
As well as a number of high profile supporting roles in the cinema, including
Vanessa Bell in
The Hours,
Lady Van Tassel in
Sleepy Hollow and Patsy Carpenter in
The Evening Star, she has also won acclaim for her performances in
The Crying Game and
Enchanted April, for which she won a
Golden Globe, beating a quartet of Hollywood heavyweights:
Geena Davis,
Whoopi Goldberg,
Shirley MacLaine and
Meryl Streep.
Two
Academy Award nominations (for
Damage and
Tom & Viv) have not altered the actress's modesty. She refuses to discuss her private life in interviews, and takes both leading and supporting roles in a variety of different genres.
Her extensive film credits have included worthy stints in a number of critically acclaimed independent features, among them
Robert Altman's
Kansas City (1996),
Robert Duvall's
The Apostle (1997) and
Richard E. Grant's
Wah-Wah (2005). In 2002, she wowed critics with a triple-role stint (as Mrs Cleg, Yvonne and Mrs Wilkinson in a hallucination) alongside Ralph Fiennes in
David Cronenberg's acclaimed thriller
Spider, a film that won Richardson a bevy of international critics awards.
More recently, Richardson appeared as Queen Rosalind of Denmark in the
Julia Stiles vehicle
The Prince and Me, and the
ballet mistress Madame Giry in the long-awaited film version of
The Phantom of the Opera, starring
Gerard Butler and
Emmy Rossum. Her latest screen incarnation is in the guise of
Rita Skeeter, the toxic
Daily Prophet journalist in
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, released in
November 2005.
She currently resides in her
London home, and also has a
Wiltshire retreat, with her two cats, two dogs and an
axolotl.
According to the
Internet Movie Database, Miranda Richardson has turned down roles in films such as
Fatal Attraction (
Glenn Close),
Waterland (
Sinead Cusack),
Rob Roy (
Jessica Lange),
Howards End (
Emma Thompson), and a plum recurring role in hit
ABC TV show
Desperate Housewives in 2005. She was also considered as a major contender by the studios for the role of the
White Witch in the 2005 fantasy adventure
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Richardson has a number of film and television projects in various stages of production, including futuristic thriller
Southland Tales (as Nana Mae Frost), film drama
Spinning Into Butter (as Catherine Kenney), French drama
Paris, je t'aime,
Puffball (as Mabs),
Bad Blood and the title role in
Caitlin.
Dance with a Stranger (
1985)
Ruth EllisUnderworld (
1985) Oriel
The Innocent (
1985) Mary Turner
Blackadder II (
1985) (
TV)
QueenieAfter Pilkington (
1986) Penny
The Death of the Heart (
1986) Daphne Heccomb
Blackadder the Third (
1987) Amy
Eat the Rich (
1987) DHSS Blonde
Empire of the Sun (
1987) Mrs Victor
Ball Trap on the Cote Sauvage (
1989) Early Bird
The Bachelor (
1990) Frederica
The Fool (
1990) Columbine/Rosalind/Ophelia
Twisted Obsession (
1990) Marilyn
Old Times (
1990) Anna
Die Kinder (
1990) (
TV) Sidonie Reiger
The Crying Game (
1992) Jude O'Hara
Damage (
1992) Ingrid Fleming
Enchanted April (1992) Rose Arbuthnot
Century (
1993) Clara
The Line, the Cross and the Curve (
1993) Mysterious woman
Tom & Viv (
1994) Vivienne Haigh-Wood
Fatherland (
1994) Charlie Maguire
The Night and the Moment (
1994) Julie
The Evening Star (
1996) Patsy Carpenter
Kansas City (
1996) Carolyn Stilton
The Designated Mourner (
1997) Judy
Saint-Ex (
1997) Consuelo
The Apostle (
1997) Toosie
St. Ives (
1998) Miss Gilchrist
Merlin (
1998) Queen Mab/The Lady of the Lake
Alice in Wonderland (1999) Queen of Hearts/Society Woman
*The Big Brass Ring (1999) Dinah Pellarin
*Sleepy Hollow (1999) Lady Mary Van Tassel/Crone
*Get Carter (2000) Gloria Carter
*Chicken Run (2000) Mrs Tweedy
*The Hours (2002) Vanessa Bell
*Spider (2002) Yvonne/Mrs. Cleg
*The Lost Prince (2003) (TV) Queen Mary
*The Prince and Me (2004) Queen Rosalind
*Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004) Eva Braun
*The Phantom of the Opera'' (
2004) Madame Giry
Midsummer Dream (
2005) Queen Titania (voice)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (
2005)
Rita SkeeterGideon's Daughter (
2006) [TV] Stella
Merlin's Apprentice (
2006) [TV] Lady of the Lake
Wah-Wah (
2006) Lauren Compton
Provoked (
2006) Veronica Scott
Before making a name for herself as a screen star, Miranda Richardson had previously led a hugely successful and extensive theatre career. Starting out with juvenile performances in
Cinderella (the title role) and
Lord Arthur Saville's Crime (as Sybil Merton) at the Southport Dramatic Club, the young thespian enrolled at the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, making her stage debut in
Moving at the
Queen's Theatre, London. Soon afterwards, Richardson appeared in reportory theatre, until she found recognition in the
West End for a series of highly praised stage performances, ultimately receiving an
Olivier Award nomination for her performance in
A Lie of the Mind, and in 1996 being cited as 'the greatest actress of our time in any medium' by one critic after she appeared in
Orlando at the Edinburgh Festival.
Repertory theatre
Savage Amusement (Hazel)
Stags and Hens (Linda)
All My Sons (Ann)
Sisterly Feelings (Brenda)
Ten Times Table (Phillipa)
Whose Life is it Anyway (Kay Sadler)
Play it Again Sam (Linda Christie)
Tom Jones (Sophie Western)
Educating Rita (Rita)
Professional theatre
Moving (Jane Gladwin)
The Table of the Two Horseman (Katie Wyld)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Honey)
The Maids (Madame)
Insignificance (The Actress)
Life of Einstein (?)
Edmond (Glenna)
A Lie of the Mind (Beth)
The Changeling (Beatrice-Joanna)
Mountain Language (Young Woman)
Etta Jenks (Etta Jenks)
The Designated Mourner (Judy)
Orlando (Orlando)
Aunt Dan and Lemon (Aunt Dan)
The Play What I Wrote (Herself)
*
Academy Award: (nominee)
Damage (1993)
*
Academy Award: (nominee)
Tom & Viv (1995)
*
BAFTA: (nominee)
After Pilkington (1988)
*
BAFTA: (winner)
Damage (1993)
*
BAFTA: (nominee)
The Crying Game (1993)
*
BAFTA: (nominee)
Tom & Viv (1994)
*
BAFTA: (nominee)
A Dance to the Music of Time (1998)
*
BAFTA: (nominee)
The Lost Prince (2004)
*
Golden Globe: (winner)
Enchanted April (1993)
*
Golden Globe: (nominee)
Damage (1993)
*
Golden Globe: (nominee)
Tom & Viv (1995)
*
Golden Globe: (winner)
Fatherland (1995)
*
Golden Globe: (nominee)
Merlin (1999)
*
Golden Globe: (nominee)
The Big Brass Ring (2000)
*
Golden Globe: (nominee)
The Lost Prince (2005)
*
National Board of Review Best Actress winner
Tom & Viv (1994)
*
* Miranda Online http://www.miranda-richardson.com
