Miranda Richardson Biography
Miranda Richardson
was born in England on March 3rd 1958. She comes from
Southport in Lancashire (near Liverpool), and has one
sister, eight years her senior. Her parents and
sister are not involved in the performing arts.
At an early age, she
performed in school plays, having shown a talent and
desire to 'turn herself into' other people. She has
referred to it as 'an emotional fusion; you think
yourself into them'. This mimicry could be of school
friends or film stars.
She left school
(Southport High School for Girls) at the age of 17,
and originally intended becoming a vet. She
also considered studying English literature in
College, but decided to concentrate on drama and
enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (as
did many well-known British actors). After three
years she graduated and moved into repertory theatre.
She became affiliated with the Library Theatre in
Manchester in 1979, where she became an assistant
stage manager. She obtained her Equity card, and
after several regional productions, first appeared on
the London stage (Moving at Queens Theatre) in 1981.
British television roles soon followed, and then
film. Since then, Miranda has moved into the
international arena, and has made films in America,
France and Spain. Television work (on both sides of
the Atlantic) continues, as does some stage
work.
Her roles are
diverse, but powerful and engaging. She has been
quoted as stating "what I basically like is
doing things I haven't done before" and this
continually comes through in the variety of roles she
has played in her career. She is also selective in
the roles she takes, being uninterested in performing
in the standard Hollywood fare, and preferring more
offbeat roles. She was approached to play the Glenn
Close role in 'Fatal Attraction', but found it
'regressive in its attitudes'. I think her attitude
is summed up by a quote from an interview that
appeared in the New York Times (Dec 27 1992) "I
would rather do many small roles on TV, stage or film
than one blockbuster that made me rich but had no
acting. And if thats the choice I have to make, I
think I've already made it".
Miranda currently
lives in West London, and also maintains a country
property.
Her hobbies include drawing, walking, gardening,
fashion, falconry, and music. She, by her own
admission is a loner and lives rather modestly.
She is an animal lover, and has 2 cats (Otis and
Waldo), a dog (Liv).
Charities that
Miranda has supported include the World Society for
the Protection of Animals, the World Wildlife Fund,
Comic Relief, The Chelsea Royal Hospital, the Humane
Society of New York, UK Childrens Hospices, Victoria
Animal Hospital, the Tibetan Peace Garden project,
the RSPCA and Alzheimers.
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