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Who is Miranda Richardson?
Famous British actress Miranda Jane Richardson was born under the zodiac sign Pisces on 3 March 1958, in Southport, Lancashire, England. She has 135 acting credits, but is perhaps still known best for portraying Jude in the 1992 romantic crime movie “The Crying Game”, which starred Stephen Rea and Jaye Davidson, and was written and directed by Neil Jordan. It follows a British soldier who’s been kidnapped by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and has befriended one of his captors; the movie won 22 of its 68 award nominations, including an Oscar win for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
Miranda’s still today highly active in the film industry and is currently shooting and recording for the upcoming movies “The Yellow Tie”, “No Title” and “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” (voice role).
Education and early life
Miranda was raised in Southport alongside her older sister Lesley Richardson who was a podiatrist, by their father William Alan Richardson and mother Marian Georgina; Miranda respects her family’s privacy and rarely speaks about them in public.
Her family’s house was 50 yards away from a cinema, and they often spent Saturday mornings with The ABC Minors; when Miranda was a bit older, she went to the cinema alone and mostly watched historical and western movies. She studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and upon matriculating in 1976 began working on her way up in the film industry.
The year 1979 saw her become an assistant stage manager at the Manchester Library Theatre, and Miranda then went on to appear in a number of West End productions; for her performance in “A Lie of the Mind”, she was nominated for the prestigious Olivier Award.
Roles in movies
Miranda’s debut film role was in the 1980 short drama “The First Day”, and her three following roles were in the biographical crime drama “Dance with a Stranger”, the drama “The Innocent”, and the action science fiction horror “Underworld”, all released in 1985.
What marked the ‘80s for Miranda was perhaps playing Daphne Heccomb in the 1987 family drama “The Death of the Heart”, which starred Daniel Chatto and Phyllis Calvert, and was directed by Peter Hammond. It follows orphan girl Portia who’s now being raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle. The remainder of the decade saw Miranda appear in the 1987 action crime comedy “Eat the Rich”, the 1988 historical comedy “Blackadder’s Christmas Carol” and the 1989 comedy “Ball-Trap on the Cote Sauvage”.
In 1996, she played Sarah Maloney in the romantic drama “Swann”, starring alongside Michael Ontkean and Brenda Fricker. The movie follows Rose Hindmarsh as she’s met author Sarah Maloney who’s investigating the life of murdered obscure poet Mary Swann; the film was nominated for five awards. Miranda could then have been seen appearing in the 1997 drama “The Designated Mourner”, the 1998 romantic drama “St. Ives”, and the 1999 family fantasy “Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang”.
In 2004, Miranda appeared as Madame Giry in the evergreen romantic musical “The Phantom of the Opera”, which starred Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum, and was directed by Joel Schumacher. It follows the life of a young soprano who’s become the obsession of a murderous and disfigured musical genius; the movie won seven of the 49 awards for which it was nominated. Miranda was then cast to appear in the 2005 short comedy “Starry Night”, the 2006 biographical crime drama “Provoke”, and the 2010 adventure family fantasy “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”.
In 2014, Miranda played the lead character Miss Blitherington in the family drama “The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm”, which also starred Maddie Holliday and Jason Forbes, and was directed by Sandy Johnson; it follows a professor who enjoys inventing things even though his creations often cause chaos.
Some of Miranda’s most recent movie roles have been in the 2020 comedy “Rams”, the 2022 animated comedy “The House” (voice role) and the 2023 animated adventure comedy “The Magician’s Elephant” (voice role).
Roles in TV series
Miranda’s debut TV series role was playing Gudrun in the 1981 episode “From Here to Maternity” of the comedy “Agony”, and the ’80s then saw her appear in an episode or two of various other series, such as the comedy “The New Adventures of Lucky Jim”, the romantic mini-series “A Woman of Substance”, and the family fantasy “Jackanory”.
In 1997, she played Pamela Flitton in two episodes of the popular mini-series “A Dance to the Music of Time”, which starred Nicholas Jones and Gillian Barge, and is a TV version of Anthony Powell’s twelve-volume novel; the series won three of its eight award nominations. The remainder of the ‘90s saw Miranda appear in the crime drama “The Scold’s Bridle”, the 1998 action adventure mini-series “Merlin” and the family drama “Fantastic Flying Journey”.
She had only a couple of TV series roles in the 2000s, and her most notable performance was perhaps playing Katherine Rhumor in all 13 episodes of the 2010 crime mystery “Rubicon”, which starred Jessica Ann Collins and James Badge Dale, and was created by Jason Horwitch. It follows the life of federal intelligence analyst Will Travers, and the series was nominated for three awards.
Filming is underway on Mapp And Lucia, which stars Anna Chancellor, Miranda Richardson and @MarkGatiss. pic.twitter.com/0iIDVmNtep
— BBC One (@BBCOne) May 29, 2014
Miranda portrayed the lead character Elizabeth Mapp in all three episodes of the 2014 comedy mini-series “Mapp & Lucia”, which also starred Anna Chancellor and follows the rivalry between two women in the 1930s.
Some of her most recent roles in TV series have been in the 2021 episode “Strangers on a (Dublin) Train” of the romantic comedy “Modern Love”, five episodes of the 2022 action adventure “Fate: The Winx Saga”, and 11 episodes of the 2023 fantasy comedy “Good Omens”.
Other credits
Miranda sang the song “I Want America” in a 1993 episode of the comedy show “Saturday Night Live”, and the song “Le Tourbillon” in the 2006 movie “Paris, je T’aime”.
She received special thanks for the 1996 documentary movie “Poetry, Passion, the Postman: The Poetic Return of Pablo Neruda” and the 2018 biographical film “The Happy Prince”.
Some of Miranda’s most recent talk-show appearances have been in “Good Morning Britain”, “There’s Something About Movies”, and “The One Show”.
Awards and nominations
Miranda’s won 18 of her 60 award nominations, which include her two Oscar nominations: the first in 1993, for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in the 1992 romantic movie “Damage”, and the second in 1995, for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the 1994 biographical romantic film “Tom & Viv”.
Some of Miranda’s wins include a 1986 Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress, for “Dance with a Stranger”, a 1992 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress, for “The Crying Game” and a 2002 Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Cast Ensemble, for her and her colleagues’ performance in “The Hours”.
Love life and relationships
Miranda’s one of the most secretive British actresses, as she avoids speaking about her love life in interviews, and hasn’t mentioned a single man, or perhaps a woman whom she’s dated.
It’s widely believed that she was once in a relationship with famous British actor, comedian and screenwriter Rowan Sebastian Atkinson; several media outlets have claimed that the two began dating after having met on the set of the sitcom “Blackadder”, but this hasn’t been confirmed by them. Rowan was married to Sunetra Sastry from 1990 through 2015 and he’s today in a relationship with British comedienne and actress Louise Ford.
Some of Miranda’s fans believe that she’s been a married woman for more than two decades now, but that she prefers to keep her husband away from media; this hasn’t been addressed by her.
Miranda seems to be unattached as of September 2023, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Some of Miranda’s favorite hobbies are falconry, gardening and dog walking; she’s been learning to play the cello since 2013.
She’s a huge lover of animals, and has volunteered at a number of animal shelters.
Miranda quit smoking after having been hypnotized.
She was invited to star in the 1987 thriller movie “Fatal Attraction”; the role went to Glenn Close and the movie won nine of its 31 award nominations, including six Oscar nominations.
While growing up, Miranda wanted to become a veterinarian.
Also while growing up, she had a crush on the late American actor John Wayne.
Miranda’s a philanthropist, and has donated money to multiple British charity organizations.
She dislikes social media networks, and thus isn’t active on Instagram.
Kate Winslet’s one of Miranda’s favorite actresses, and some of her favorite movies include “Revolutionary Road”, “The Dressmaker” and “Little Children”.
Appearance and net worth
Miranda’s age is 65. She has blue eyes and brown hair, weighs around 130lbs (58kgs) and is 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall.
Miranda’s net worth’s been estimated at over $8 million, as of September 2023.
