- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, 1990. Richardson, Elizabeth Hurley, Patsy Kensit, Nicole Kidman, Amanda Pays, Ally Sheedy were in the Sherwood mix for Maid Marian – won by an an Italo-American! Well, two French stars, Sophie Marceau and Mathilda May, had also been seen.
- Emma Thompson, Howards End, UK-Japan, 1991. Merchant-Ivory – Indian producer Ismail Merchant and US director James Ivory – considered Joely for Margaret Schlegel before actor Simon Callow suggested Emma. There were more than enough Redgraves in the film anyway: Joely’s mother, Vanessa,aunt Lynn and cousin Jemma.
- Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction, 1994.
- Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma, 1995. Jenni Garth, Nicole Kidman, Diane Lane and Joely Richardson – “we had many actresses, big and small, who wanted this part,” said US autuer Douglas McGrath. He chose Gwyneth for his ultra British (Jane Austen) heroine. Because, ironically, of her brilliant Texan accent in Flesh and Bone. “I grew up in Texas, and I’ve never heard an actor not from Texas sound remotely like a real Texan. I knew she had theatre training… The minute she started the read-through, the very first line, I thought: She’s going to be brilliant.”
- Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones’s Diary, 2000. Her aunt, Lynn Redgrave, made her name and fame by playing a very Bridget-style lumpy dumpy in Georgy Girl…
- Emily Watson, Gosford Park, 2001. Change of little Elsie as Robert Altman – at 76 – has his most surprising success (at age 76). Upstairs and Downstairs meets Agatha Christie in a UK country house whodunit! Created by Julian Fellowes… as the matrix of his later tele-triumph. Downton Abbey. Maggie Smith stole both shows. As he knew she would…
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 5