MovieChat Forums > Spider (2002) Discussion > Miranda Richardson was incredible.

Miranda Richardson was incredible.


Before seeing this I had not seen much of her work, but WOW. This might sound really stupid, but throughout the movie I kept thinking "damn, who is that blonde chick in real life?" I had no idea Miranda played both characters. To pull off a role like that, where you're playing a character that is not real, just a product of a warped memory, and on top of that playing an incarnation of that character as a completely different character, most have been so, so hard. She should have been recognized for that performance. Who agrees?

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I agree. Her performance was stunning.

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In my opinion, she is the world's greatest living film actress.

There are other great screen presences (e.g., Vanessa Redgrave, Julie Christie) who light up the screen no matter what role they play. We want to watch them no matter what they do. But Miranda Richardson has a unique gift for transforming herself into other people. And she is always pitch perfect, I have yet to see a false note in any of her performances.

In Tom & Viv, she again has a sort of dual role--she plays a mentally unstable young woman and that same woman in middle-age when she's mentally healthy. It's a brilliant performance with tragic and comic touches.




"The night was sultry."

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I adore Miranda Richardson...

Seeing her in the dual role reminded me of her characters in 'Merlin'. Both different and well done.

For those who loved her in this film, I highly recommend one of her first early films 'Dance With a Stranger'. It is based on a true story and features a young, sexy Rupert Everett and will give you goosebumps!

‘Six inches is perfectly adequate; more is vulgar!' (Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Re: An open window).

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Yes, Miranda is brilliant in Dance With A Stranger. She can convey intensity or anguish by doing nothing more than blinking her eyes. She doesn't seem to be an expressive person and yet she expresses everything we need to know about the characters she plays. I don't know how she does it.

And yes, Rupert Everett was terrific, too. You could see from their scenes together how they were tearing each other apart yet couldn't let each other go.

It's a terrific movie I recommend highly, too.


"The night was sultry."

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are you aware she has passed on? you imbecile

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its in my top ten all time favorite supporting actress performances. on a related note, my number one favorite is miranda richardson in "damage".
she deserved the oscar that year though. zeta jones was incredible, but richardson was unforgettable.

"they should give nicole kidman an oscar for being able to show any emotion after THAT much botox".

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My all-time favorite actress performances are a tie between Shirley Booth in Come Back, Little Sheba and Miranda Richardson in Tom & Viv.

And yes, Richardson was excellent in Damage--as you say, unforgettable. When I remember Damage, it's the scenes with her I recall. Her uneasiness with Anna at the dinner in the restaurant and later at her father's house, her grief, her self-abuse. I barely remember the rest of it.

She's the best film actress alive, no doubt about it.



"The night was sultry."

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Yes, I didn't even fully realize that it was the same actress until after the movie. She really put on an astounding performance creating two distinct characters, one which inspires a feeling of love and the other a feeling of hatred within the viewer. Superbly done.

I would go so far as to say it could be one of the best performances I've seen to date, she really was that good. In fact the acting by the whole cast was stellar but accomplishing the difficult task of portraying two distinct characters, the way Richardson did, really distinguishes her from the rest of the cast as a talent.

For some reason however, I suddenly thought of Austin Powers and Dr Evil.

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She was amazing! I didn't realize she played both roles until the end credits. I went back to the scene where Yvonne flashes the kid in the bar which was right after us being introduced to Mrs. Clegg and found it still hard to believe the two characters were played by the same actress.

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She also played the landlady, Mrs. Wilkinson, towards the end of the movie.

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I had no idea until my husband (who didn't know the actress's name) told me. Duh.






"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"

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