Dakota Blue Richards

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 roles in television, film and on stage.

Early life and education Richards was born on 11 April 1994 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. The audition process had ten thousand applicants, and Philip Pullman (author of the books) said, "As soon as I saw Dakota's screen test, I realised that the search was over." Chris Weitz, the director, added that Richards "made what should have been an extremely difficult decision quite easy." "a decent job", "nicely played", and "enchanting." One review called the selection of Richards for the role of Lyra "terrific casting". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian commented "Lyra is nicely played by 13-year-old newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, though with an Artful Dodger-ish 'urchin' accent that comes and goes a bit",

Skins Richards appeared in series 5 and 6 of the E4 teen drama Skins, which premiered on 27 January 2011. She played the character of Franky Fitzgerald with her androgynous looks, wacky dress sense, two gay dads (one played by John Sessions) and a tragic cyber-bullying backstory. Originally she auditioned for the role of Liv, and in an interview explained "only became Franky right at the very end of the audition process". As a member of the third generation of its young cast, Richards said "It's crazy to be part of this Skins phenomenon, it's as much a lifestyle choice as anything because of the attention that comes with it."

ChickLit In this full-length film, Richards plays a protagonist's sister-in-law, cajoled into acting the role of author of a chick-lit novel written by four patrons of a local pub in Norfolk. The character, Zoe, demands £500 a week for as long as the four true authors need her. The film is an erotic British comedy.

Other roles

Before The Golden Compass was released, Richards had already been cast as the lead in another film, The Secret of Moonacre, her second book-to-film adaptation, in which she would play Maria Merryweather from the book The Little White Horse. Principal photography began in October 2007 and the film was eventually released February 2009.

In April 2012, she performed a British indie feature The Fold in Bristol and Cornwall, playing Eloise, the daughter of an Anglican priest. The film is written by Poppy Cogan, winner of the Harpers/William Morris Short Script Award, and directed by John Jencks. It commercially opened in limited release in UK on 24 March 2014. The movie won best screenplay at the Women's Independent Festival in LA, Best Picture at the Independent Film Makers Showcase and was nominated for best drama at the National Film Awards.

Richards played a title role in ITV thriller Lightfields alongside Jill Halfpenny and Kris Marshall. It is a supernatural five-part drama which follows on from the ITV drama Marchlands and tells the story of three families living in the same house with a ghost during different time periods.

In 2013, she appeared in French filmmaker Stéphanie Joalland's sci-fi thriller The Quiet Hour, about a brother and sister trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic England. During the same year she filmed a short film entitled Girl Power.

Richards made her stage debut in an ensemble cast featuring Kirsty Besterman, Robert Cavanah, Flora Montgomery, Wilf Scolding, Nakay Kpaka, and Ria Zmitrowicz in English Touring Theatre's 2015 revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia.

Between 2016 and 2018, she was cast in the part of WPC Shirley Trewlove in the Endeavour television series. In 2018, she was cast for the part of Margaret Osborne in the ITV drama Beecham House. It began airing in 2019.

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

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"

Filmography Film Year Title RoleNotes 2007 The Golden Compass Lyra Belacqua Debut role 2008 The Secret of Moonacre Maria Merryweather 2009 Five Miles Out Cassey Short film 2014 The Fold Eloise Ashton The Quiet Hour Sarah Girl Power Cassey Short film 2016 ChickLit Zoe Feature film

Television Year Title RoleNotes 2008 Dustbin Baby April Johnson Television film 2011–2012 Skins Franky Fitzgerald 18 episodes 2013 Lightfields Eve 5 episodes 2016–2018 Endeavour WPC Shirley Trewlove 13 episodes 2019 Beecham House Margaret Osborne 6 episodes 2023 Celebrity Mastermind Herself episode #21.11

Stage Year Title Role Notes 2015 Arcadia Thomasina English Touring Theatre A Streetcar Named Desire Stella Curve, Leicester 2017 What The Butler Saw Geraldine 2023 Anthropology Angie Hampstead Theatre, London

Awards and nominations