Joely Richardson

Interview By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

Joely Richardson is the descendant of a theatrical tradition. Her mother is acting legend Vanessa Redgrave, her father is the late filmmaker Tony Richardson, her grandfather is actor Sir Michael Redgrave, her grandmother is actress Rachel Kempson, and she is the niece of actors Lynne and Corin Redgrave.

Richardson is most well-known for her role as Julia, wife of Miami plastic surgeon Sean McNamara, on the hit FX TV series Nip/Tuck. Her latest role is as Jo Wilder, mother of two children who find mysterious toys that are the keys to a parallel universe, in the film The Last Mimzy.

When she discussed the film, Joely mentioned that what impressed her to do the film was not so much the character, but the story.

'It's quite sophisticated. I just thought it was a very magical story,' she explains, 'And the idea that people have said, 'Well, it's sci-fi,' but it kind of is and it isn't. I think when sci-fi's are set on another planet and a whole other world is invented, it seems much further away from us. When a family is sitting around the kitchen table and extraordinary events start to happen, then it makes it more real and it was that juxtaposition that I really loved.'

'So it's not really the kind of job that you're like, 'Oh, I'm going to take this because I love this character and I want to play her so much,' Richardson adds, 'It's more for the project as the whole that it's a really lovely story. In fact, you're basically a storyteller and it's most fun to tell stories to children.'

She also adds that she enjoyed very much working with child actors Chris O'Neil and Rihannon Leigh Wrynn in Mimzy.

'I personally really like working with children,' she says, 'Obviously, all children are the same, because some are incredibly instinctive, some have been coached a lot, so they're doing what their coaches told them to do. Chris and Rhiannon were great kids, very, very different.'

She also explained how working with Chris and Rhiannon differed from her past experiences with child actors.

'I have worked with a lot of children where it really was their first time where say they came from worlds that were totally not connected to show business and that is very different,' Joely notes, 'Rhiannon's family and her brothers and sisters all work in the business, so it wasn't new territory to her like a kid that has never been on a film set. And Chris had done a lot of auditions and working acting scenes and it was a real passion of his, so he didn't feel like a newcomer at all, which I know is crazy, given the fact that we're talking about kids. In a weird way, Chris is one of those children that he seems much older than his years and Rhiannon is very sparkly and is absolute magic in the film.'

Richardson went on to discuss how pleased she was with the finished film and her favorite scene in it.

'You've no idea what to expect. There were some little changes in the script, so it was great fun to watch,' she gushes, 'The scene that really stood out to me as I watched the film was when the kids leave school and they're coming on the bus and all of them are looking down on their little gadgets. And no one is like talking to each other or looking out the window. And that, the whole technology vs. nature, and getting the balance right, and are there other worlds out there' Can we learn stuff from the future or the past' I love all those subjects.'

Though she herself was pleased with it, Joely had this to say in regards to questions about whether most parents would enjoy it on the same level as their children.

'It's very hard for me to be objective, because for some reason with this project, I find it harder than most,' she states, 'We were there for four months shooting it and so watching it, I couldn't tell if I knew nothing of the story how I'd respond. I'd say it's definitely a family film. And I think it's not for the parents to think about and be entertained by as there are for the children.'

As for the future, her status on Nip/Tuck is currently unknown at the present time. Last November, it was announced that she was leaving the show temporarily for 'personal reasons', though she says she's currently in dialogue with show creator Ryan Murphy about possibly returning for the show's upcoming fifth season on FX.

'It's all in discussion now, so I'm not exactly sure what's happening in season five. Now before season four started, I had some personal things that I knew were coming up. I spoke to the producers about it and said, 'Look, I got this stuff.' They said, 'OK, well, we need you for ten episodes, then we can let you off for the last four.' And so, it was all very amicable and we left it completely open.'