Dakota

 Dakota Blue Richards (born 11 April 1994) is an English actress. At the age of 13 she made her feature film debut in The Golden Compass as Lyra Belacqua who plays the lead character. The character of April as a smart teenager in Dustbin Baby, and Maria in The Secret of Moonacre in 2009 were her other leading roles. In 2011 she played Franky Fitzgerald, the third generation cast of the British teen drama Skins. She has also played parts in film, TV and on stage.Richards was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the Fulham Road, London. The family moved to Sussex and she attended Newlands School. After she graduated from St Paul's Primary School, she attended Blatchington Mill School, Hove, and KBis Theatre School, Brighton. She later stated that she was interested in playing Lyra. The audition process included 10000 applicants. Philip Pullman (author of the books) declared, "As soon as I saw the screen test of Dakota, I knew that the hunt was done." Chris Weitz, director, said Richards made what should be a difficult choice easy.