Dakota

 Dakota Blue Richards (born 11 April 1994) is an English actress from England. At the age of 13 she made her feature debut on film in The Golden Compass as Lyra Belacqua as the main character. The character of April the shrewd teenage in Dustbin Baby, and Maria in The Secret of Moonacre in 2009 were her most prominent roles. She was Franky Fitzgerald, a third generation actor in the British teen drama Skins in 2011. She also has appeared in roles in television, film and on stage.Richards was born in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the Fulham Road, London. The family relocated to Sussex where she went to Newlands School. After she graduated from St Paul's Primary School, she attended Blatchington Mill School, Hove and KBis Theatre School, Brighton. She later said that she was interested in playing Lyra. The audition process was awash with more than a thousand candidates. Philip Pullman (author of the books) said, "As soon as I saw Dakota's screen test, I realized that my search was over." Chris Weitz, the director, added that Richards "made what could have been an extremely difficult choice seem like a breeze.