Joely Richardson

Joely Richardson began her career with David Hare’s film Wetherby, for which she was nominated Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards. She then went on to do theatre seasons, including regional and at The Old Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her second film was Peter Greenaway’s cult classic Drowning By Numbers, followed by Sister My Sister, a performance that earned her Best Actress honors at the Valladolid Film Festival. Her breakout role in England was in Ken Russell’s TV movie Lady Chatterley’s Lover, followed by Jim Brooks’s I’ll Do Anything, but it wasn’t until Disney’s live action 101 Dalmatians that she was able to reach a wider international audience. She followed this up with work in both Event Horizon and Under Heaven, the latter of which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Joely’s United States profile continued to broaden with substantial and well-received work in the films Maybe Baby, opposite Hugh Laurie, and The Patriot, opposite Mel Gibson, but it wasn’t until her work in Nip/Tuck that she received the widespread attention (and two Golden Globe nominations) she’d rightfully earned.

The last few years have brought a variety of great films, including The Last Mimzy; Anonymous, her second film with Roland Emmerich; Red Lights, opposite Robert De Niro; and David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. She returned to her theatre roots in the plays Side Effects (garnering a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Actress), The Lady From the Sea (garnering an Evening Standard Long List nomination for Best Actress), and Ivanov, opposite Ethan Hawke (earning an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding Actress). In 2013, Joely appeared in the films Thanks for Sharing, opposite Tim Robbins, Mark Ruffalo, and Gwyneth Paltrow, and The Devil’s Violinist, opposite Jared Harris. She can next be seen in the yet-to-be released films Maggie, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin; Endless Love, with Alex Pettyfer; and Mark Waters’s highly anticipated film Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters.

Daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and sister of the late Natasha Richardson, Joely has been a longtime friend and supporter of amfAR, in addition to generously supporting many other charitable organizations, including Save the Children.