Biography
Date of Birth
11 December 1994, South Kensington, London, England, UK
Height
5' 5¾" (1.67 m)
Mini Biography
Dakota Blue Richards, was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in South Kensington, London but grew up in Brighton with her mother. She is of Prussian heritage on her Grandmother's side, and Irish on her father's. The name Dakota Blue was inspired by her mother's time spent with Native Americans while studying and traveling in USA. At school, she enjoyed drama, dance and the arts, was an active participant in school plays and attended a local amateur dramatics group in her spare time.
She made her professional acting debut age 12, starring alongside Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig as Lyra Belaqua in the film adaptation of Phillip Pullman's The Northern Lights (The Golden Compass). Ten thousand girls turned up for open auditions in Cambridge, Oxford, Exeter and Kendal for the role; Richards was awarded the part after the casting directors Lucy Bevan and Fiona Weir took a shine to her at the Cambridge auditions. Richards, who was a fan of the books from an early age and had seen the stage adaptation at The National Theatre, said of her character 'I feel like I can relate to her. I like to think I'm quite brave. I stand up for myself. And I don't let other people tell me what to do. Well, unless it's my mum.'
She has been nominated for two best actress awards for her portrayal of popular character Franky Fitzgerald in E4's BAFTA-winning drama Skins, and a multitude of awards, including a Saturn award, for her role in The Golden Compass.
Richards took up screenwriting during her time as WPC Shirley Trewlove in ITV's Endeavour and has since completed a short and a feature length film. She described the experience of writing her first piece as 'In many ways more personal than acting. It was quite cathartic.'
Richards was photographed by RANKIN as part of Ocean 2012, a campaign to prevent over fishing, alongside the likes of Sir Ben Kingsley, Terry Gilliam and Lily Loveless. In 2013 she modelled for fashion designer SORAPOL's AW13 campaign 'Immortal'. She has also been photographed by noted fashion photographer Kate Bellm and was the first woman to appear on the cover of 7th Man magazine.
In her personal life, Richards takes a keen interest in politics and global issues. In 2008, she attended a two-week camp in the Lake District organised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission which aimed to bring together teenagers from different backgrounds to discuss 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 an advertising campaign to promote the charity's new project. She is a long time supporter of Good Gifts. Richards is also a vegan.
Trivia
Ten thousand girls turned up for open auditions in Cambridge, Oxford, Exeter and Kendal for the role of Lyra Belacqua in the adaptation of 'His Dark Materials: Northern Lights'. In June 2006, twelve-year-old Dakota, a Londoner schoolgirl, was awarded the part after the casting directors took a shine to her in the Cambridge auditions.
Her mother is an American anthropologist.
Traveled from her home in Brighton to Cambridge for the Lyra auditions under one condition: that she wouldn't be too upset if she was passed over.
She had just come home grumpy from a bad day at school when The Golden Compass (2007) director Chris Weitz called her. Dakota's mother tried to put him on speaker phone, but accidentally hung up on him. Weitz called back and informed them of the good news.
Her name, Dakota, is the name of a North American tribe who are native to the northern plains states of the USA.
Before being awarded the role of 'Lyra' in The Golden Compass (2007), she was a fan of the His Dark Materials series, having read the books and gone to see the stage play in London.
The makers of The Golden Compass (2007) sent Philip Pullman(Author of His Dark Materials trilogy) footage of their 40 favored girls who'd auditioned for the role of Lyra. He personally endorsed the two that he favored, one of them being Dakota Blue Richards.
Daniel Radcliffe told her that she always should listen to her mother while she was filming the big-budget The Golden Compass (2007).
At the age of 13, she was cast in The Secret of Moonacre (2008) through an audition that lasted for merely one day. By the premiere of The Golden Compass (2007), the Secret of Moonacre had already been filmed.
Loves Tim Burton movies.
Her favorite movie is Howl's Moving Castle (2004).
Her dream role is as Alice in "Alice in Wonderland", and she was originally going to audition for Alice in Wonderland (2010) but found out later that director Tim Burton wanted an adult actress.
Hadn't read "The Little White Horse" before she was cast in the movie adaptation (The Secret of Moonacre (2008)) but read it on a flight to Hungary, where she would film the movie.
Has a half sister called Maya.
Has a dog named Pete.
Became a fan of The Golden Compass at the age of nine.
Dakota's father's nickname was Blue.
Is of German descent (through her grandmother).
Since 2010 she has supported Action For Children, the first charity in the UK to help vulnerable youth break through injustice and deprivation.
In 2011 Dakota Blue Richards posed naked for Oceans 2012, a campaign against overfishing.
In 2013, Dakota Blue Richards was modeling for "Immortal Sorapol" AW13; it was a commercial-based shoot for a new London-based fashion brand.
Has often declared herself a big fan of Lady Gaga.
In her free time Dakota loves to make art, especially abstract and modern art.
Dakota Blue suffered bullying, after dyeing her hair red for her role in the movie, The Golden Compass (2007).
Dakota Blue backs The Young Actors Group, a Brighton-based acting school that opened in 2014. This acting school gives children and teenagers the training to work professionally on stage and screen.
In 2008, Dakota Blue attended a two-week camp at Lake District organized by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Commission's aim was to bring together teenagers from different backgrounds to discuss discrimination.
She wanted to audition for Alice in Alice in Wonderland (2010), which was a dream role of hers. After learning that an adult actress was wanted for the part, she had to give up on it as she was still a teenager. The part eventually went to Mia Wasikowska.
Trademarks:
Large, wide brown eyes
Quotes
"I feel like I can relate to her. I like to think I'm quite brave. I stand up for myself. And I don't let other people tell me what to do. Well, unless it's my mum." - Talking about Lyra, her character from The Golden Compass (2007).
Daniel is very funny and really nice but he does swear a lot. So we had a swear box and he had to put in £1 every time he said a naughty word. By the end he owed me £55.
One of the things Nicole taught me was, no matter what happens in a scene, you carry on even if you fall in a dustbin. If you get out of the bin and just carry on they might end up cutting it and using part of that scene anyway. But thankfully that's never happened to me.
I walked past the cinema on the way here, and there's a 'coming soon' poster for the film. It's not a particularly big picture of me, which is good because if it was massive I'd be scared and feel like I could never go to my local cinema again.
I figured if I did something wrong, they'd be, like, 'Oh my God, why are we working with her?' But they were really nice (on co-stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig).
They had stuffed cats you had to pick up and hold. It was like, 'Ewww.' And me being a vegetarian, and I don't wear fur - I'd come home smelling of dead cats!
My mother is brilliant; she's the best person in the world and keeps me grounded.
I don't let other people tell me what to do. Well, unless it's my mum.
As an actor you can't build up proper relationships with the people you work with, because after six months, you're done.
I think I matured quite early, but what that does mean is I have moments of complete immaturity. When I come home, I don't want to be an actor. I just want to be a kid. I barely even know what money is.
I like to think I'm quite brave. I stand up for myself.
