Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and subsequently performed in plays by Terry Johnson, Edward Albee, David Mamet, Sam Shepherd, Harold Pinter and Wallace Shawn. She made her first impression on film audiences in Mike Newell's Dance With A Stranger (1985). Her first US production was Steven Spielberg's Empire Of The Sun (1987). In 1992 Miranda's performances in three films under three different directors - The Crying Game (Neil Jordan), Enchanted April (Newell) and Damage (Louis Malle) - garnered her the New York Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress of the year; she also received a Golden Globe Award for Enchanted April and an Oscar nomination for Damage. She soon earned a second Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Vivienne Haigh-Wood, the wife of poet T S Eliot, in Tom & Viv (1994). Miranda's recent film credits include Sleepy Hollow (1999), The Hours (2002), Spider (2002) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), her third collaboration with Newell. Her upcoming films include Southland Tales (2007), which premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, the Christmas movie Fred Claus (2007), Nicolas Roeg's Puffball (2007) and Young Victoria (2007). For television her performances include: Blackadder (1999); The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle (2007) written by Jennifer Saunders, The Lost Prince and Gideon's daughter (2005).
Miranda originally wanted to be a vet and today she surrounds herself with animals and would have more, if she didn't feel guilty every time she leaves them to work. Miranda is very focused on raising the awareness of animal welfare, both for domestic and wild animals. She is also keen to promote the importance of biodiversity within our ecosystems. Because of her commitment to these issues, she was a key speaker at the Icount rally in London, in 2006, speaking out against climate change and appeared in the TV programmes Final Chance to Save about the threatened extinction of the Aye Aye lemur, and Extinct (WWF) championing the cause of Asian elephants.