Dakota Blue Richards

Dakota Blue Richards (born 11 April 1994) is an English actress. Her debut was in the recently-released film The Golden Compass, as the lead character Lyra Belacqua, having beaten 10,000 other girls for the part. She has also been cast as the lead in another movie, The Secret of Moonacre, which is expected to be released in 2008. Richards was born in South Kensington, London, the daughter of Michaela Richards, a social worker. Her father's identity is not public; his name does not appear on her birth certificate and she was raised solely by her mother. She was named Dakota Blue because her mother wanted a combination of a place-name and a colour. Dakota was inspired by the Sioux tribe, with whom her mother had become friendly during a year in America; her mother also liked that it was unusual as a name. Blue was Dakota's father's nickname, and her mother thought it went well with Dakota. The family moved to Brighton shortly after Richards was born, where she attended St Paul's... full article at wikipedia