Joely Richardson’s mother, the renowned actress Vanessa Redgrave, once gave her some acting advice that she holds dear to this day: ‘Stay forever a student’. “It’s a life lesson, really,” Joely tells HELLO! in this exclusive interview. “Never think you know the answers, be open and you’ll learn something new every day. Another expression is: ‘Be of service.'”
We’re speaking to Joely, 60, as she takes part in a voluntary initiative in Kent with Save the Children; she has worked as an ambassador for the charity since 2012. “This is something I do out of passion and a love of community,” she says as she meets youngsters taking part in an allotment project supported by the organisation in a socially deprived area of Margate.
“One of the first things I saw was a mud kitchen,” she tells us. “It took me right back to my childhood, making mud cakes at the roots of an old tree in our nearby park. These children were elated about getting their hands muddy.”
The actress speaks highly of the benefits of the project, which gives children from underprivileged backgrounds who are under the age of five a chance to grow food and play outdoors in twice-weekly sessions. “You forget how important it is to have your hands in the earth – it recalibrates you on a cellular level. It takes away stress and it’s a very holistic form of education,” she says. “I certainly can get lost in the garden for hours. My mind goes completely still: pruning, clipping, designing, cooking the rhubarb I’ve collected.”
Growing up, the outdoors even informed Joely’s early career. “I was always acting and putting on plays for friends,” the 101 Dalmatians star tells us. “We’d visit my dad [film director Tony Richardson] on holidays; there was a little wooden and stone stage in the wilds where he lived, and we put on plays there. Years later, if I felt nervous in the theatre, I’d close my eyes and picture being on that little stage.”
At the allotment in Margate, Joely relishes the opportunity to see parents watching their kids enjoying nature. “The excitement children get out of what happens when you plant a seed, water it and watch it grow is amazing to see. Many children don’t have access to this form of play and education. One father said that his little girl never ate fruit and vegetables, but watching things grow piqued her interest. Now she eats them happily.
“The process obviously opens a different pathway in the brains of these young children – a more natural process than getting a plastic container from the fridge,” she adds. “There’s nothing as delicious as a pea that you’ve picked and opened.”
The project was funded by Save the Children’s long-standing partner Bulgari, which has created a jewellery line to raise funds. During her visit, Joely wore the Bulgari Save The Children ring and necklace in silver with black ceramic.
The actress says: “Projects like this need funding, and that’s where Save the Children and Bulgari come in, because without that, it’s not possible. One in three UK children is living in poverty today. That’s 4.5 million children; they should not be paying the price,” she says.
Of having turned 60 in January, Joely says: “World news affects me, so I can’t say: ‘Oh, life is amazing.’ I feel it’s my responsibility to be aware of what’s going on, and that can get to me, but I have a lot of love around me and work that I adore. I’m appreciative, and aware that I don’t have an unlimited amount of time. I get joy from simple things: nature, walking, plants and my loved ones.”
Joely is currently filming the second season of hit Netflix series The Gentlemen, in which she plays the aristocratic mother of the show’s lead, Theo James. “It’s such a privilege to do a second season of a TV series,” she says. “You know the characters, the storylines; Guy Ritchie is directing. We all get along very well. It’s heaven.”
She is also appearing in the forthcoming Downton Abbey film, which she says was extraordinary. “To have a glimpse into the Downton world was incredible,” she says.
“I knew a couple of the cast socially, but to see them as the characters in their costumes was very strange. It’s a massive, lavish production, but it’s also about family, so it’s quite something.”
Would Joely consider working with Daisy Bevan, her 33-year-old actress daughter with her former husband Tim Bevan? She shakes her head. “[In my family] we like all our interactions with loved ones to be in our private lives,” she says. “The relationship is outside work.”
However, she does have an idea of what she would like to do more of. “I love TV, especially when you get to carry on telling the story,” she says. “But I’d love to do theatre again – I haven’t done any for ten years.”
For the full interview pick up a copy of this week’s Luxe issue, on sale now
The allotment project Joely visited is funded thanks to a collaboration between Fondazione Bvlgari and Save the Children. To support Save the Children’s work in the UK and around the world, shop the Bvlgari Save the Children jewellery collection at Bvlgari.com or visit SavetheChildren.org.uk
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