Miranda Richardson career questions open for Guardian

The Guardian is inviting its readers to submit questions for a forthcoming interview with actor Miranda Richardson. The publication will pose selected questions to Richardson, known for her Bafta and Golden Globe-winning performances, as part of its reader interview series.

Miranda Richardson's career spans acclaimed dramatic roles and iconic comedic characters. She won a Bafta for the 1992 film Damage and Golden Globes for Enchanted April (1991) and Fatherland (1994). Her Oscar nominations came for Damage and the 1994 film Tom & Viv.

From Drama to Comedy

Her dramatic breakthrough was playing Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain, in Mike Newell's 1985 film Dance with a Stranger. Other notable serious roles include IRA member Jude in The Crying Game and Queen Mary in The Lost Prince, which earned her Bafta and Golden Globe nominations in 2003.

Richardson is equally celebrated for comedy. She created the character Queenie in Blackadder II, famously declaring, "I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a concrete elephant." She also played Rita Skeeter in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and the villainous Mrs. Tweedy in Chicken Run, reprising the role in the 2023 sequel Dawn of the Nugget.

A Varied Career Path

Initially considering veterinary medicine, Richardson trained at Bristol Old Vic, graduating in 1979 in the same class as Daniel Day-Lewis. After theatre work, her film career began in earnest. The Guardian notes that on the set of Dance with a Stranger, she entertained the crew with a screechy schoolgirl voice, which she later used for Queenie in Blackadder.

She turned down the role that went to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. Her recent work includes playing Madame Tracy and Shax in Good Omens and appearing as Ioana Celibidache opposite John Malkovich in the 2026 biopic The Yellow Tie.

Questions for the Actor

The Guardian suggests several potential questions readers might ask. These include whether she had a favourite orangutan after narrating Operation Orangutan (for which she received an Emmy nomination), if she still practices falconry, her progress learning the cello in her 50s, and which head she would like to see on a spike in Blackadder's Traitor's Cloister.

Readers must submit their questions by 6pm on Thursday 24 September. The publication will then publish Richardson's answers in a future installment of its interview series.