Queen Mary The emotionally repressed mother of Prince John. A fundamentally inhibited character, she is a loving mother but has great difficulty communicating with her son. Miranda Richardson has gained a towering reputation for a number of films, including Tom and Viv, Dance with a Stranger, The Crying Game, Enchanted April, Damage, Empire of the Sun, The Apostle and Spider (Official Selection, Cannes 2002), as well as the unforgettable Queenie in the BBC's Blackadder. The actress clearly loved playing Queen Mary, and heaps praise on writer-director Stephen Poliakoff. "I love his dramas because they always contain so much subtext. He allows the backstory to come through, and as an actor you can really inhabit his world." This is not the first regal character she has portrayed. "I've played a lot of queens in my time. They're probably all bonkers, but there is no other common link. They're all totally different characters." Richardson's recent roles include that of Queen Rosalind in the Julia Stiles vehicle, The Prince and Me (2004). Upcoming parts include roles in The Phantom of the Opera and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, both scheduled for 2005 US releases.