Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an English actress known for her versatile performances in film, television, and theatre. She made her film debut as Ruth Ellis in Dance with a Stranger (1985) and went on to earn Academy Award nominations for her roles in Damage (1992) and Tom & Viv (1994). A decorated performer, Richardson has received seven BAFTA Award nominations, winning Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Damage, and has earned seven Golden Globe Award nominations, with wins for Enchanted April (1992) and the television film Fatherland (1994). Her extensive career includes notable television work in series such as Blackadder, The Lost Prince, and Rubicon, as well as a prolific stage career that earned her an Olivier Award nomination for A Lie of the Mind (1987). In 1996, one critic notably hailed her as "the greatest actress of our time in any medium" following her performance in Orlando at the Edinburgh Festival.

Filmography

• Bookish — Duchess Alberta, Duschess Alberta
• The Last Anniversary — Rose
• 2025The Yellow Tie — Ioana Celibidache
• 2023Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — Mrs Tweedy (voice)
• 2023The Magician's Elephant — Madam LaVaughn (voice)
• 2022The House — Aunt Clarice (voice)
• Fate: The Winx Saga — Rosalind
• 2020Rams — Kat
• Curfew — Lou
• Good Omens — Shax, Madame Tracy
• Modern Love — Jane
• Girlfriends — Sue
• 2017Churchill — Clementine Churchill
• 2017Stronger — Patty Bauman
• 2017iBoy — Nancy 'Nan' Harvey
• 2015An Inspector Calls — Sybil Birling
• And Then There Were None — Emily Brent
• 2015Casanova — Marquise d'Urfé
• Casanova — Marquise d'Urfé
• Danger Mouse — Queen of Weevils (voice)
• 2015Operation Orangutan — Narrator (voice)
• 2015Orango rischio fatale — Actor's Assistant
• 2015Sex Story: Fifty Shades of Grey — Narrator (voice)
• 2015Testament of Youth — Miss Lorimer
• Mapp and Lucia — Elizabeth Mapp
• 2014Muppets Most Wanted — Berliner at Window
• 2014The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm — Mrs Blitherington
• 2013Belle — Lady Ashford
• 2013Hidden Universe
• Psychobitches — Enid Blyton
• Dead Boss — Jo
• 2012Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen — (archive footage)
• Parade's End — Mrs. Wannop
• World Without End — Mother Cecilia
• 2010Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 — Rita Skeeter
• 2010Made in Dagenham — Barbara Castle
• Rubicon — Katherine Rhumor
• 2009Spinning Into Butter — Dean Catherine Kenney
• 2009The Young Victoria — Duchess of Kent
• 2009Turtle: The Incredible Journey — Narrator (Voice)
• 2007Fred Claus — Annette Claus
• 2007Provoked — Veronica Scott
• 2007Puffball — Mabs Tucker
• 2007Southland Tales — Nana Mae Frost
• The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
• Merlin's Apprentice — Lady of the Lake
• 2006Paris Je T'aime — La femme au trench rouge (Bastille)
• 2005Comic Aid
• 2005Gideon's Daughter — Stella
• 2005Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire — Rita Skeeter
• The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill — Corky (British dub voice)
• 2005The Funny Blokes of British Comedy — Queenie (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 2005Wah-Wah — Lauren Compton
• 2004Churchill: The Hollywood Years — Eva Braun
• 2004The Phantom of the Opera — Madame Giry
• 2004The Prince & Me — Queen Rosalind
• 2003Falling Angels — Mary Field
• 2003The Actors — Mrs. Magnani
• The Lost Prince — Queen Mary
• 2003The Rage in Placid Lake — Sylvia Lake
• 2002Spider — Yvonne / Mrs. Cleg
• 2002The Hours — Vanessa Bell
• 2001Snow White — Elspeth
• 2000Chicken Run — Mrs. Tweedy (voice)
• 2000Get Carter — Gloria Carter
• 2000The Miracle Maker — Mary Magdalene (voice)
• 1999Alice in Wonderland — Queen of Hearts
• 1999Blackadder: Back & Forth — Queenie
• 1999Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang — Miss Fowl
• 1999Sleepy Hollow — Lady Mary Van Tassel / Crone Witch
• 1999The Big Brass Ring — Dinah Pellarin
• 1999The King and I — Anna Leonowens (voice)
• Merlin — Lady of the Lake / Mab
• 1998St. Ives — Susan Gilchrist
• 1998Ted & Ralph — Henrietta Blough-Pendleton
• 1998The Scold's Bridle — Dr. Sarah Blakeney
• The Scold's Bridle — Dr Sarah Blakeney
• A Dance to the Music of Time — Pamela Flitton
• 1997Swann — Sarah Maloney
• 1997The Apostle — Toosie
• 1997The Designated Mourner — Judy
• 1996Kansas City — Carolyn Stilton
• 1996Saint-Ex — Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry
• 1996The Evening Star — Patsy Carpenter
• 1995The Night and the Moment — Julie
• 1994Fatherland — Charlie Maguire
• 1994The Line, the Cross & the Curve — Mysterious Woman
• 1994Tom & Viv — Vivienne Haigh-Wood
• 1993Century — Clara
• 1993Demonella — Marie Antoinette
• 1993Jealousy — Stella/Elsbeth
• 1993Space Virgins from Planet Sex — Miss Straugheim
• Absolutely Fabulous — Bettina
• 1992Damage — Ingrid Fleming
• 1992Mr. Wakefield's Crusade — Sandra
• 1992The Crying Game — Jude
• 1991Broken Skin
• 1991Enchanted April — Rose Arbuthnot
• 1991Old Times
• Performance — Anna
• 1991Redemption — Valerie Paris
• Die Kinder — Sidonie Reiger
• 1990Les Dogs — Bride's Mother
• 1990The Bachelor — Friederike / Widow Sommer
• 1990The Fool — Columbine / Rosalind / Ophelia
• 1989Ball-Trap On The Cote Sauvage — Early Bird
• 1989Communicators From Hell
• 1989Twisted Obsession — Marilyn
• 1988Blackadder's Christmas Carol — Queens Elizabeth I / Asphyxia XIX
• 1988Mountain Language — Young Woman
• 1988Sweet as You Are — Julia Perry
• 1988The Master Builder — Hilde Wangel
• The Storyteller — Witch
• 1988The Storyteller: The Three Ravens — Witch
• 1987After Pilkington — Penny Newhouse
• 1987Eat the Rich — DHSS Blonde
• 1987Empire of the Sun — Mrs. Victor
• 1987The Death of the Heart — Daphne Heccomb
• 1986Lost Property — Anne
• ScreenPlay — Valerie Paris
• 1986The Demon Lover — Gina
• Unnatural Causes — Anne Forrest
• A Woman of Substance — Paula McGill Amory
• 1985Dance with a Stranger — Ruth Ellis
• Screen Two — Penny 'Patch' Newhouse, Julia Perry, Clara
• 1985The Innocent — Mary Turner
• 1985Underworld — Oriel
• Blackadder — Nurse Mary, Queen Elizabeth I, Amy Hardwood, the elusive shadow
• Natural World — Narrator
• Shades of Darkness — Gina
• The Hard Word — Polly Wood
• The Comic Strip Presents... — Bride's Mother
• Dinner with Audrey — Ella Van Heemstra
• The Custom of the Country
• The Duchess and I
• The Portrait of a Lady — Mrs Lydia Touchett
• The Queen of Fashion — Helen Delves Broughton

Appearances as themselves (15)

• 2024Like Tears in Rain — Self
• 2023Blackadder: A Cunning Story — Self - Contributor
• 2013Hello: A Portrait Of Leslie Phillips — Self / Mrs. Victor
• 2008Blackadder Exclusive: The Whole Rotten Saga — Self
• 2008Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments — Self
• The One Show — Self - Guest
• Final Chance to Save — Herself
• V Graham Norton — Self
• 2001Baldrick's Video Diary - A Blackadder in the Making — Self
• 2000Sleepy Hollow: Behind the Legend — Self
• Shooting Stars — Self
• This Morning — Self
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Host
• Film '72 — Self
• The Oscars — Self