'Dakota Blue Richards' (born
11 April 1994) is an
English actress from
Brighton, most notable for her role as
Lyra Belacqua in the upcoming film ''. She was chosen from 10,000 hopefuls who attended auditions in Cambridge, Oxford, Exeter and Kendal. Richards had acted in amateur productions before, and director
Chris Weitz was sure about her: "Usually, it's a gut-wrenching decision...You realize the whole time how much rests on the shoulders of this kid. But I didn't have any doubts about Dakota. She looks not quite tamed, and that's Lyra."

Richards in ''The Golden Compass''.
Author
Phillip Pullman agreed, "I'm delighted with the casting of Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra. As soon as I saw Dakota's screen test, I realized that the search was over. Dakota has just the combination of qualities that make up the complicated character of this girl, and I very much look forward to seeing the film take shape, with Dakota's Lyra at the heart of it."
She had just come home grumpy from a bad day at school when 'The Golden Compass' 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. Dakota was previously attending k-bis theatre school where she had drama, musical theatre, singing, jazz tap and ballet lessons.
Dakota later said she found out about the auditions watching
BBC Newsround, and that she wouldn’t have gone to them if it had rained.
[1]
Filmography
★ ''
The Moon Princess'' (2007)
Maria Merryweather
★ '' (2007) (post-production)
Lyra Belacqua
★ '' (2009) (announced)
Lyra Belacqua
References
★
"The Arctic Adventurer" by Devin Gordon, ''Newsweek International'', Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue.
1. Lord Asriel at Shepperton: Chris Weitz, Dakota Blue Richards and lots of info
External links
★
★
Dakota Blue resource