Name: Dakota Blue Richards
Date of Birth: 11 April 1994 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. Is a vegetarian. 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, the Secret of Moonacre had already been filmed. Loves Tim Burton movies. Her favorite movie is Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004). Her dream role is as Alice, in "Alice in Wonderland", and was originally going to audition for Alice in Wonderland (2010) but found out later, that director Tim Burton wanted a 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. Read more Dakota Blue Richards movies (actor)User Comments |
