Possessing an early ambition to become a professional tennis player, she spent two years at a tennis academy in Florida. Richardson then turned to acting. In 1985, she portrayed, by flashbacks, the younger version of the leading character played by her mother in the film Wetherby. After a leading role in Peter Greenaway's cult success Drowning by Numbers, her first major role in front of a mass audience was as Joanna Farley in a 1989 television episode of Poirot, based on Agatha Christie's detective series. In a 1989 episode of Jim Henson's The Storyteller, she was cast as a princess. She portrayed a teacher on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the 1989 Channel 4 serial Behaving Badly and fictional FinnishPrincess Anna in the 1991 screen comedy King Ralph. A year later she appeared in Shining Through alongside her future brother-in-law, Liam Neeson, with both actors playing Nazis. In 1993, Richardson appeared in the BBC's Lady Chatterley opposite Sean Bean. In 1996, she played fashion designer Anita Campbell-Green in the Disney live-action remake of the animated 101 Dalmatians opposite Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil. In 1998, in the television drama The Echo, she played Amanda Powell. The next year, she played in the science fiction horror filmEvent Horizon as Lieutenant Starck, executive officer of the research and rescue ship Lewis and Clark, sent to rescue crew of the long-lost experimental ship Event Horizon. One year later, Richardson appeared opposite Mel Gibson in the film The Patriot, an American film set in the American Revolution. Also in 2000, she appeared opposite Hugh Laurie in Maybe Baby, Ben Elton's film adaptation of his book Inconceivable. She was cast in the 2001 film The Affair of the Necklace after director Charles Shyer noticed her resemblance to doomed 18th century French Queen Marie Antoinette. In 2003, Richardson took on the role of Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck, based on the lives of two plastic surgeons in Miami. Her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, appeared in several episodes, playing her character's mother. In 2005, Richardson starred in Lies My Mother Told Me, based on a true story about a murderous con artist. In 2007, she played the mother in The Last Mimzy with Timothy Hutton and Chris O'Neil. She also starred in the television drama Wallis & Edward, playing the lead role of Wallis Simpson, lover of Edward, Prince of Wales. In 2009–10, Richardson appeared as Catherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII, in the fourth season of Showtime's hit period dramaThe Tudors. The role reunited her with her former husband Tim Bevan, who was part of the show's production team. Joely joined the cast of TV series in which she played the role of Countess Markievicz. In 2015 she co-starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the zombie thriller film Maggie.
Charity
Richardson is an Ambassador for The Children's Trust, the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability.
Personal life
Richardson is divorced from film producer Tim Bevan. The couple have a daughter, Daisy Bevan, who is also an actress. Richardson had an affair with theatre producer Archie Stirling, resulting in the failure of Stirling's marriage to Diana Rigg in 1990.
