Trivia

Cast, ironically, as Rita Skeeter, one of Hermione Granger's least favorite people, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), after she did an impersonation of Hermione in "Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azibaijan", a Comic Relief sketch, in 2003.

Gave up smoking after being hypnotised.

Turned down the role subsequently taken by Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction (1987).

She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the late seventies with Daniel Day-Lewis, Amanda Redman, Jenny Seagrove and Greta Scacchi.

Turned down a major role in the second series of Desperate Housewives (2004) because it "snowballed into something that would be so disruptive" for her.

Had a childhood obsession with John Wayne.

Wanted to become a vet.

Played roles in four unrelated movies in which her character was in charge of having heads cut off: Alice in Wonderland (1999), as the Queen of Hearts; Sleepy Hollow (1999), as Lady Van Tassel; Blackadder II (1986), as Queen Elizabeth; and Chicken Run (2000), as Mrs. Tweedy.

One critic wrote that "Miranda Richardson has a face like an English sky".

Father: William Alan Richardson (Marketing Executive). Mother: Marian Georgina Richardson. Sister: Lesley Richardson (Chiropodist, born in 1949).

When Richardson was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in Tom & Viv (1994) she was seen as the least likely nominee to actually win. She was so unlikely and the film was so seldom heard of that a TNT public telephone poll cited her film as "Tom and Vic".

She won successive Spoken Word Awards in 2002 and 2003 for her reading of Francesca Simon's "Horrid Henry" in the audio books of the same name.

Nominated for the 1987 Laurence Olivier Award for "Actress of the Year" for her work in "A Lie of the Mind".

Graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Grew up in Southport, Merseyside.

Played Ruth Ellis in Dance with a Stranger (1985).

In one of the sketches on Saturday Night Live (1975) (20 March 1993), The Rain People, her character tells Phil Hartman's character that she draws inspiration for a particularly emotional scene from a childhood experience. She awoke after a bad crash, saw her father's face, and told him that she was all right. Then, she saw that it was just her father's severed head in her lap. This makes both actors cry, and produces a great scene for which Phil Hartman's character wins the Oscar. He takes credit for the scene and claims the story as his own (and messes up the details). Miranda's character is so angry she screams, "I want his severed head in my lap!" several times.

Not related to actresses Joely Richardson and Natasha Richardson even though they were all born in England.

Attended Southport High School for Girls (Southport, England)

Involved, along with Sherilyn Fenn, Kate Winslet, Rufus Sewell and Paul McGann in the 1998 film project "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline". The film was to be executive produced by Emma Thompson, and written and directed by Fay Efrosini Lellios. The shooting was set to start in June 1998 in New Hampshire. The film was canceled due to financial withdrawal. (1998)

Is one of 23 actresses who did not receive an Oscar nomination for their Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Golden Globe-winning performance; hers being for Enchanted April (1991). The others, in chronological order, are: June Allyson for Too Young to Kiss (1951), Ethel Merman for Call Me Madam (1953), Jean Simmons for Guys and Dolls (1955), Taina Elg and Kay Kendall for Les Girls (1957), Marilyn Monroe for Some Like It Hot (1959), Rosalind Russell for A Majority of One (1961) and Gypsy (1962), Patty Duke for Me, Natalie (1969), Twiggy for The Boy Friend (1971), Raquel Welch for The Three Musketeers (1973), Barbra Streisand for A Star Is Born (1976), Bernadette Peters for Pennies from Heaven (1981), Kathleen Turner for Romancing the Stone (1984) and Prizzi's Honor (1985), Jamie Lee Curtis for True Lies (1994), Nicole Kidman for To Die For (1995), Madonna for Evita (1996), Renée Zellweger for Nurse Betty (2000), Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), Amy Adams for Big Eyes (2014), Awkwafina for The Farewell (2019), Rosamund Pike for I Care a Lot (2020) and Rachel Zegler for West Side Story (2021).