Miranda Richardson trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and consequently performed in many plays. Some more notable performances include Mamet’s Edmond, Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Terry Johnson’s Insignificance, Sam Shepard’s A Lie Of The Mind, and the one woman piece Orlando working with Robert Wilson.

Richardson started her film career off with a dramatic role in Mike Newell’s Dance with a Stranger, in which she played Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in England. In 1992, she took on dramatic rols in Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game, Mike Newell’s Enchanted April, and Louis Malle’s Damage. The New York Film Critics named her Best Supporting Actress that year, citing her work in all three films. She was also nominated for an Oscar for Damage and received a Golden Globe for Enchanted April. She received a second Oscar nomination in 1995 for her performance as the wife of poet T.S. Eliot,Vivienne Haigh-Wood, in Brian Gilbert’s Tom and Viv.

Her recent pictures include Stephen Daldry’s The Hours, David Cronenberg’s Spider, Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, Conor McPherson’s The Actors, Scott Smith’s coming-of-age story Falling Angels, Tom McNamara’s The Rage In Placid Lake, Peter Richardson’s upcoming comedy Churchill: The Hollywood Years starring Christian Slater and Neve Campbell, and the animated film Chicken Run. In Chicken Run Richardson voices Mrs. Tweedie for Nick Park and Peter Lord. Other acting roles include The Apostle with Robert Duvall, The Designated Mourner by Wallace Shawn and directed by David Hare, Robert Altman’s Kansas City, Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun, and the role of Madame Giry in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera.

Richardson has also participated in several television programs, including Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and Merlin, garnering her a Golden Globe nomination, Showtime’s The Big Brass Ring with William Hurt and Nigel Hawthorne, BBC’s A Dance to the Music of Time, and HBO’s Fatherland, for which she was given a Golden Globe Award. She has delved into comedic roles in the television series Absolutely Fabulous and three Blackadder television series, playing Elizabeth I in the second season.