Dakota Blue Richards's Biography
Dakota's Sussex school friends call her Dee or Dee-Dee.
Before becoming Dakota's manager, Dakota's mother Mickey ran a drug-treatment centre in Sussex.
Dakota Blue Richards told The Guardian that she got her name because her mother wanted a place name that had not been used before.
Dakota added a bit more light to the Blue part of her name in an interview with The Telegraph:
"I've not seen my dad for about six years, so I'm not sure what he makes of all this. His nickname was 'Blue', which is why I have that as part of my name."
Dakota's mother's friend was watching Newsround and heard that The Golden Compass was being made, and this led to Dakota, her mother and grandmother going to the casting call in Cambridge for the role of Lyra.
Fate took a hand in Dakota Blue Richards getting Lyra's part. Dakota explained about the audition:
"My mum said we wouldn't go if the weather was bad, so it was lucky it wasn't raining!"
The Golden Compass, which also stars Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, was not Dakota Blue Richards's first film. In August 2007 she began shooting The Moon Princess.
Although, Dakota hopes that the team will make the second book of Dark Materials, The Subtle Knife, into a film so she can play Lyra again, nevertheless in her interviews around the launch of The Golden Compass, she stated that she would rather be a supply teacher than an actress in the long run.
Nevertheless Dakota Blue Richards later starred in the lead role of Dustbin Baby, a made-for-TV film, and the feature film The Secret of Moonacre.
The Independent reported how Dakota, nicknamed Dee, went to an independent school until 11, when she moved to K-Bis, a stage school.
In March 2011, Dakota Blue Richards discussed her role in Skins with Digital Spy.
In 2016, she was cast in the ITV series Endeavour.
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