She could be the best-known supporting actress in historical costume movies and TV currently working, definitely in Britain. Miranda Richardson has had a few, good starring roles, but she gets a lot of meaty sidekick parts in films spanning historical periods. And of course she’s done a lot of fantasy and sci-fi (including Rita Skeeter in the Harry Potter films). But I’m going to stick to historical costume here!
Ruth Ellis in Dance with a Stranger (1985)
Based on the life of Ruth Ellis, a convicted murderer and the last woman hanged in Britain in 1955.
Queen Elizabeth I in Black-Adder II (1986)
YAAAASSS QUEEN! How can you not love her snarky, silly take on Liz?
Amy Hardwood, the elusive Shadow, in Black Adder the Third (1987)
Another fun Blackadder part, plus this lovely gown was reused in The Affair of the Necklace (2001)!
Mrs. Victor in Empire of the Sun (1987)
A small part in this WWII prison-camp film.
Nurse Mary in Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)
You’re in one Blackadder, you’re in ’em all!
Rose Arbuthnot in Enchanted April (1991)
Such a breezy, whimsical, Brits-on-holiday 1920s film.
Clara in Century (1993)
Her hair’s a bit poodle-permy, but the bustle gowns look good! Also starring Clive Owen.
Vivienne Haigh-Wood in Tom & Viv (1994)
Miranda Richardson was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her performance as poet T.S. Eliot’s mentally ill wife.
Julie in The Night and the Moment (1994)
Two in a row with Willem Dafoe (she’s a stronger woman than I!).
Carolyn Stilton in Kansas City (1996)
Richardson goes redhead in this Robert Altman 1930s flick.
Pamela Flitton in A Dance to the Music of Time (1997)
During the World War II part of this TV miniseries.
Susan Gilchrist in St. Ives (1998)
I’ve never heard of this before, but I’m intrigued.
Lady Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow (1999)
With a wardrobe by Colleen Atwood, her character has a genteel veneer.
But she’s a supernatural bad-ass.
I used to be in love with the stripey dress Christina Ricci wears, but now I realize Miranda Richardson’s gown is even more awesome.
Vanessa Bell in The Hours (2002)
She plays Virginia Woolf’s sister in the historical portions of this film.
Queen Mary in The Lost Prince (2003)
A heart-breakingly good TV movie about the youngest son of Britain’s King George V and Queen Mary (played by Richardson).
Eva Braun in Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004)
It’s a spoof!
Madame Giry in The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
I despise the music of Phantom, so someone will have to explain why her character goes from all buttoned-up like this…
…to looking all laid-back and debauched like this.
Duchess of Kent in The Young Victoria (2009)
Miranda Richardson IS Victoria’s mom, hands down. The Duchess of Kent in the current ITV/PBS series doesn’t hold a candle to her.
She balances the Duchess of York’s controlling and needy nature so well.
The amazing costumes by Sandy Powell make everything perfection.
Mrs. Wannop in Parade’s End (2012)
Kendra “actively disliked watching” this TV miniseries, & like her, I keep finding good costume pix of it in searches.
Mother Cecilia in World Without End (2012)
Sequel to the medieval miniseries The Pillars of the Earth.
Lady Ashford in Belle (2013)
She plays a scheming mother trying to get both her sons married into Belle’s family. Damn, but Miranda Richardson looks good in 18th century!
Miss Lorimer in Testament of Youth (2014)
A small part in this World War I film.
Elizabeth Mapp in Mapp & Lucia (2014)
This three-part 1930s TV series co-stars Anna Chancellor aka Caroline Bingley from the 1995 Pride and Prejudice.
Marquise d’Urfé in Casanova (2015)
I really wanted this Amazon pilot to get a full season!
Sybil Birling in An Inspector Calls (2015)
Always up for a mystery.
Emily Brent in And Then There Were None (2015)
Don’t think she’s just knitting, hah.
Clementine Churchill in Churchill (2017)
Churchill’s wife still looks rather glam.
Miranda Richardson’s next historical drama is The Happy Prince, written and produced by Rupert Everett. Richardson plays Lady Queensbury, mother of Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas, who was Oscar Wilde’s lover.
What’s your favorite historical costume film or TV series with Miranda Richardson?
OMG I didn’t realize she was in all that!
That’s what’s so amazing about her!
Talented and ellegant but sometimes underrated actress! She made 2 totally different characters in Hallmark’s “Merlin”: the serene and good Lady of the Lake and chaotic & evil fairy Queen Mab, and I didn’t realized till I was older, after having watched the miniseries so many times! Some of Mab’s dresses are really good, by the way, they have teh feeling of a Fairy Queen who lives in 5th century Britain. I remember her as Snow White’s stepmom opposite Kristin Kreuk, there Miranda’s gown had some Late Middle Ages/Renaissance feeling to it, it would have been wonderful if you had included those dresses in this post, but after all, “Merlin” and “Snow White” aren’t period dramas ;)
It’s hard for me to choose a favourite from Ms Richardson’s oeuvre, but for comic relief it’s Queen Elizabeth I in Blackadder II. And her Victoire Duchess of Kent in the Young Victoria is a tour de force. Much better than the whiny one on ITV/PBS Victoria. Her costumes Rock. And I can believe Albert bringing her & Victoria together.
The role I’m probably looking forward to the most is her Lady Douglas in the Happy Prince.
Didn’t know about several of the others are I’ll look for them on HULU & NETFLIX.
Not a historical costume appearance, but she was hilarious as Bettina on AbFab.
Yes! She goes from comedy to drama so well.
She is the perfect Duchess of Kent! And it’s disappointing that she hasn’t yet had the chance to play Elizabeth I straight.
Now I’m going to have to go search out some of these other movies just to see her work.
QUEENIE FTW!
I didn’t like Parade’s End but the costumes were amazing.
Not crazy about the movie, but that second picture is definitely not from the POTO film. Maybe a weird publicity photo?
Both are publicity stills from the same place.
Thanks for reminding me of “St. Ives” (or as it’s called in the UK, “All for Love”)! IMDB lists it as drama and romance, but they’ve missed out the comedy, which is really what makes it as I recall. Witty in the vein of “The Importance of Being Earnest”, only sillier. Apparently it’s an adaptation of a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, but perhaps more importantly, it also stars Richard E. Grant and Jason Isaacs. Definitely worth a watch.
St. Ives is one of my favorite movies of all time.
“Enchanted April” is one of my all-time favorite movies. Warms my heart every time. Such a gentle, lovely film. Richardson is the perfect Raphaelite beauty. Thanks for the reminder and this article.
She’s so beautiful – and she really suits that vintage porcelain skin/red lip look. I loved her in all the Blackadders and The Young Victoria, but could never understand why Madame Giry was the only person in Phantom with a French accent, when they were all French!
1) I love love LOVE her in the Hours.
2) I am going to forgive you for your Phantom sacrilege. :-P The the photo is her in her ballet mistress garb–being all perfectly postured and such. The second, and I don’t think that particular shot is in the film (which I may or may not be rewatching at this moment!), but it’s referencing the scene where she tells Raoul all about the Phantom’s past and how she knows him and basically saved his life by hiding him under the opera house. It’s after the masquerade ball and she’s in her own apartment, so she’s sort of off the clock/letting her hair down, in a sense.
Is the photo at the top of the page from Spider? She was terrifying in that movie!
Wow, does she never age!? She was in movies before I was born and hardly looks a day older. I think my favorite appearance though was when she played the Queen of Heart’s in a TV movie version of Alice in Wonderland – I can’t remember who made the movie, but I remember Whoopi Goldberg played the Cheshire Cat…