Dakota Blue Richards

At 30 years old, Dakota Blue Richards has this physical status:

Dakota Blue Richards (born 11 April 1994) is an English actress.

Her film debut at the age of 13 was in The Golden Compass, as the lead character Lyra Belacqua.

Other lead roles include the wayward teenager April in Dustbin Baby and Maria in the 2009 film The Secret of Moonacre.

In 2011 she played Franky Fitzgerald in the third generation cast of British teen drama Skins.

She has also played a number of notable roles in television, film and stage and has been nominated for several prominent awards for her acting.

Early life and education

Richards was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the Fulham Road, London. The family moved to Sussex, where she attended Newlands School. She attended St Paul's Primary School in Brighton, and later Blatchington Mill School in Hove and KBis Theatre School in Brighton.

Personal life

Richards revealed that as a young actress, she "suffered at the hands of school bullies because of her ginger hair".

In 2008, she attended the "Our Space" camp of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (in the Lake District), which gathered "teenagers from different backgrounds to discuss human rights and discrimination". Since 2010 she has supported Action for Children, a charity in the United Kingdom helping vulnerable young people overcome injustice and deprivation. In 2011, she fronted their advertising campaign to promote a new charity project.

Richards also backs The Young Actors Group, an acting school in Brighton opened in 2014 that gives children and teenagers the training to work professionally in stage and screen.

Richards describes herself as "quite into modern art and abstract stuff" and a fan of photographer Christian Coigny, artists Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst, and films from Studio Ghibli.

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Career

She says she "just wanted to be Lyra" after seeing the stage adaptation of His Dark Materials at the National Theatre. There were ten thousand applicants for the audition, and Philip Pullman (author of the books) said, "I knew the search had ended as soon as I saw Dakota's computer test." Richards "made what should have been a very difficult decision really straightforward," Chris Weitz, the producer, said. Richards as Lyra's Golden Compass was announced worldwide in December 2007 and grossed $372 million.

Richards' appearance in The Golden Compass was variously described as "ethical," "a good job," "well played," and "enchanting." According to one study, Richards was chosen for the role of Lyra "terrific casting." "Lyra is well played by 13-year-old newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, but with an Artful Dodger-ish 'urchin' accent that comes and goes," Empire noted that she "struggles with clumpy talk." Richards was "pretty, plucky, forceful, self-possessed, charismatic, and just about correct" as the mistress of an armoured bear and Dust's protector, according to Roger Ebert.

Richards appeared in series 5 and 6 of the E4 teen drama Skins, which premiered on January 27, 2011. With her androgynous appearance, wacky make up, two gay parents (one played by John Sessions) and a tragic cyber bullying backstory, she portrayed Franky Fitzgerald. In an interview, she auditioned for Liv's role but "only became Franky right at the end of the audition process." Richards said, "It's crazy to be a part of this Skins phenomenon, but it's as much a lifestyle choice as it is."

Richards plays a protagonist's sister-in-law and is thrown into the role of author of a chick-lit book that was written by four patrons of a local pub in Norfolk in this full length film. Zoe, the author, needs £500 a week for as long as the four true writers desire her. The film is a erotic British comedy.

Richards had already been cast in another film, The Secret of Moonacre, in which she would play Maria Merryweather from the book The Little White Horse, long before The Golden Compass was announced. Principal photography began in October 2007, and it was eventually released in February 2009.

Richards played April Johnson in Dustbin Baby, the BBC dramatization of the Jacqueline Wilson novel of the same name. "She is a totally different person to me" in April, which she described as a difficult character to play. On the one hand, she goes through daily life, such as fighting with your parents or receiving gifts you don't like; on the other hand, she has had such a rough life.

In April 2012, she appeared in The Fold, a British indie film starring Eloise, the daughter of an Anglican priest. Poppy Cogan, the winner of the Harpers/William Morris Short Script Award, is the film's writer, and John Jencks directs. On March 24, 2014, it was the first time a limited release in the United Kingdom had begun. Best Picture at the Independent Film Makers Showcase in Los Angeles, and Best Drama at the National Film Awards were nominated for best drama.

Richards appeared in the ITV drama Lightfields with Jill Halfpenny and Kris Marshall. It's a supernatural five-part drama that follows on from the ITV drama Marchlands and tells the tale of three families who shared the same house with a ghost during different time periods.

She appeared in The Quiet Hour, a French filmmaker, about a brother and sister struggling to live in a post-apocalyptic England. She made Girl Power, a short film that was shot in the same year.

Richards appeared in England Touring Theatre's 2015 revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia.

She appeared in the Endeavour television series between 2016 and 2018. In 2018, Margaret Osborne appeared in the ITV drama Beecham House as Margaret Osborne. In 2019, it first debuted on televisions.

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