Articles & Interviews
Dakota Blue Richards talks "The Golden Compass"
from The Deadbolt, Dec 2007
by Jordan Riefe and Reg Seeton
Given the star-studded line-up in The Golden Compass, we're sure actors Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, Ian McKellen, Sam Elliott, and Ian McShane didn't really have to audition for their roles. However, when it comes to newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, who plays Lyra Belacqua in the movie based on the popular His Dark Materials novel, the young British actress beat out thousands of hopefuls to land her breakthrough role. At the recent London press junket, Dakota Blue Richards talked about her experience filming the movie, what she loved about her character, and the advice she received from Harry Potter star, Daniel Radcliffe.
Dakota Blue Richards on whether she was a fan of the books before production:
"Yes, I was. I - my mum had read the books to me when I was about nine and, yeah, I really did... I really loved Lyra."
Richards on acting with green screen:
"I found the green screen work to be very, very hard. I mean, I think that was the hardest bit. And the less green screen there was, the easier it became. So I mean, working with people like Daniel [Craig] and Nicole [Kidman] was so much easier than working with Iorek. Because of course, I mean, he wasn't there. And doing green screen work really makes you have to think about everything twice. You have to firstly imagine that everything's there. You know, you have to think about other people before you can think about yourself. And that's really hard and really confusing and you can get very lost. Especially when you... I didn't know what the animators were going to make it look like."
On whether she received advice from Nicole Kidman about being a young actress:
"I don't think so. I remember that she did mention that she kind of started around my age. And, you know, I had a book, a hardback copy of the book and she wrote in the book, 'Stay true to yourself,' which I think is very important."
On how she stays true to herself:
"Daniel Radcliffe told me once that you should always keep the people around you that you know are going to tell you the truth."
Richards on how she met Daniel Radcliffe:
"We did a kind of work experience type thing. Basically the studio just sent me to the Harry Potter set to speak to people who'd kind of been through the same kind of thing I had."
Dakota Blue Richards on how she stays grounded and keeps her friends at school:
"I think that's very important to me. If you don't have your friends and, you know, the people that [are] around you every day... you start to go a bit mad. And that's why I don't like - that's why in the future I don't want to be constantly acting going from one film to another. Because I just think it would be so very lonely to be away from your friends and family for so long and no proper kind of routine."
On what she'd do if she gave up acting:
"I don't want to give up the acting completely, but I do want, I want to be a supply teacher in primary schools... partly because I want to be a teacher. I mean, I want to be - generally as a rule, children don't like their teachers."
Dakota Blue Richards on the elements of her character she liked and had in common:
"Well, like and did I find in common, they're very different things. Liked is probably her bravery and her courage and how she would go so far for her friends, and what she thinks is right. And I think, you know, what I see in myself is probably more the way that she kind of talks a bit more than she should."
Richards on her relationship with Nicole Kidman off-set and whether she felt the need to continue the tension of their on-screen relationship:
"No, no, no, no, I... personally I don't think it's necessary to be the same with the actor as with the character. Because, I mean, you work with people who, [are] really lovely people, that play people that you hate. And you don't want to go around estranging yourself from people who are nice people for the sake of preparing for an act."
On tapping into right emotion while working with CGI:
"Well it was very hard, I mean as you can imagine doing green screen is the hardest part of shooting. But I think what made it a lot easier was having people like Nonso and Tommy who read the voices of the animated characters on set, and I really, I don't think I could've done it without them."
Richards on her next project Secret of Moon Acre:
"I loved the story of that as well. I mean, to be honest in some ways I prefered working on that more than this, and in some ways I prefer this more than that. I mean, because we were out of the country shooting that and there was one other child on set at the time and she was Hungarian and she didn't speak any English and my Hungarian is terrible. And, you know it's just, it's very hard to be away from your friends for long."
On the next book in the series and the potential for a romantic sub plot:
"Well, I mean, of course I'm nervous. But I'm trying not to think about it so much because I mean then that way at least it won't be as scary, just the thought of it. And I know my friends are going to it and (inaudible) and my friends will try to embarass me as much as they possibly can."
Dakota Blue Richards on whether she's disappointed about the "cut" ending:
"I don't think it was so much of a disappointment as a bit of a shock. And, I mean, they did explain it to me and I did understand it. And I think the new ending, although I haven't seen it, I'm sure it works. Because, I understand their reasons for doing it and I think that it's probably for the best."