Dakota Blue Richards

Dakota Blue Richards
Richards in 2012
Born	(1994-04-11) 11 April 1994 (age 22) South Kensington, London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2006–present

Dakota Blue Richards (born 11 April 1994) is an English actress. Her debut was in the film The Golden Compass, as the lead character Lyra Belacqua. She was cast as the lead of two other films: Dustbin Baby, as wayward teenager April, and The Secret of Moonacre, as Maria, the latter of which was released February 2009. She also played the character Franky Fitzgerald in the third generation of the E4 teen drama Skins.

Richards was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in South Kensington, London. She was named Dakota Blue because her mother wanted a combination of a place and a colour. The family moved to Sussex where she attended Newlands School. At school, she took very few drama classes and she was not an active participant in class assemblies or school plays; she missed out on the part of Mary in the nativity play. Nonetheless, throughout primary school, she attended weekend drama classes and took time out of school to attend auditions. She finished at St Paul's Primary School, then began attending Blatchington Mill School in Hove and the K-Bis Theatre School.

When she was nine years old, Richards had the His Dark Materials books read to her by her mother, feeling that she could "be her". After she saw the stage adaption at the National Theatre, she says she "just wanted to be Lyra".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."The Golden Compass with Richards as Lyra was released worldwide in December 2007 and grossed $372 million.