Actress Haley Lu Richardson is taking Hollywood by storm.
It took Richardson years to land her big break, but that’s exactly what she’s grateful for.
“It’s like, where do you go from there, you know?
How do you top that?
I hope my whole career is just a steady build.”
We’ve broken down her stunning transformation, from backup dancer to Hollywood it-girl.
Her mother was a graphic designer and her father was a golf course architect.
For middle school, she attended Villa Montessori school, which replaced formal teaching methods with independent learning.
She then enrolled in Arcadia High School, which has famous alumni like Steven Spielberg.
Richardson started showing signs that she would pursue a career in the arts from a young age.
“I always wanted to perform somehow,” she toldThe Los Angeles Daily News.
“I was just a ham when I was a kid.
“Dance has been a huge grounding thing for me because I feel so deeply,” she toldPeople.
“It’s very cathartic to be able to connect your body to those emotions that I feel.”
Dance is still a huge part of Richardson’s life today.
She even teaches dance classes every Wednesday.
This week I did a burlesque class and we all dressed up with feather boas,” she toldGlamour.
I honestly was just a girl with a dream."
However, her entry into Hollywood was not an easy one.
She had no connections or any idea of how the industry worked.
Richardson recalls a time a director screamed at her in front of the entire crew.
“I was standing there sobbing for at least 20 minutes,” she told Glamour.
According to Richardson, her dancing background helped prepare her for the acting world.
“It’s just such a vulnerable, abandoned thing,” she toldBackstage.
“The first time I really felt like I was acting was actually through dance.”
Her career got a big boost in 2016 when she played supporting roles in bigger box-office films.
“I was like, I don’t want to do another disturbing movie right now.
Despite the unprecedented success of the movie, Richardson has no regrets.
“I do think that everything happens the way that it’s supposed to.
There was a reason I didn’t have it in me.
And also, Florence Pugh is just such a good actor.”
“I’m not judging myself with the crocheting.
“I really pushed for it to be Portia’s little vacation hat.
It was the directorial debut of Korean-American filmmaker Koganda.
She had equal praise for the movie itself.
Kogonada saw me as an artist, like a collaborator.
The pair dated for several years, sharing loved-up selfies on Instagram with their fans.
“My favorite girl in the world and I.
Throwback Thursday,” wrote Dier onInstagramin 2016.
They got engaged in 2018, and it was actually Richardsson who proposed.
“I just asked.
Maybe that got us in the mood, I don’t know.
But yeah, we’re engaged now.”
Because the proposal was so spontaneous, the couple crafted makeshift rings out of twigs from a nearby bush.
Once they got proper engagement rings, they had them engraved with the image of a twig.
“HALEY WAS NOMINATED FOR BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST!!
So proud of you honey!”
he captioned the post.
It’s clear Richardson is a Portia stan.
I feel that so deeply, in a way that almost makes me miserable,” she said.
This is me and Brett.
Therapy is also perhaps why Richardson can be so vulnerable with her fans.
In 2023, she took to Instagram to share that she’d been experiencing a painful couple of months.
The fact that her post received almost 200,00 likes helped her feel less alone.
“I felt like I was getting hugs from everyone,” she said.
Richardson was serious about accurately portraying such a sensitive topic.
Despite filming a movie about such a devastating topic, Richardson said the actors had fun making it.
Well, she got more than just a meeting.
It all started when Richardson appeared on “The Late Night Show With James Corden.”
A fan since she was 12, Richardson has attended a total of 15 Jonas Brothers concerts.
Jonas delivered on his promise, as seen in anInstagrampost by Richardson.
But that wasn’t the biggest Jonas-related surprise in store for Richardson.
“Joe [Jonas] called me.
“This was the most surreal day of my entire existence.
im so thankful,” she wrote onInstagram.
They begin the seemingly impossible quest to find each other again, and of course, fate intervenes.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” actor Ben Hady plays Richardson’s charming, British love interest.
“They were great together immediately,” director Vanessa Caswill toldGlamour.
“Haley Lu loved him.
He’s really grounded and sweet and gentle, and she’s so warm and quirky.
The combination balances out brilliantly.”
