WomenOutLoud! : Haley Lu Richardson

by Neill Frazer April 3, 2023, 5:28 am

Image Credit: Good Fon

Haley Lu Richardson had early television roles on the Disney Channel, in the sitcom Shake It Up (2013) and then also in the ABC Family supernatural drama Ravenswood (2013–2014), but it was her roles in the coming-of-age film The Edge of Seventeen (2016) and the psychological horror film Split (2016), that propelled Haley into the spotlight.

Haley Lu Richardson was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, as the only child, she attended Montessori school, where kids are encouraged to think outside the box and value self-motivation. Dance was ingrained in Haley’s childhood. She was a member of a competitive dance company for eight years, training and performing 20+ hours a week. This passion propelled Haley Lu to move to Los Angeles at the age of 16. Getting a dance agent before an acting one, even though the latter was always her end goal. Her first couple years in LA consisted of primarily dance opportunities, because at this point she had very little formal acting training. As she gained more confidence and experience, she managed to land her first lead acting roles in The Last Survivors (2014) and The Young Kieslowski (2014).

Haley’s most notable performance came in 2017, when she starred opposite John Cho in Columbus. For her work in the film she was nominated for the 2017 Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actress. My personal favourite performance and film of Haley’s is easily, 2019’s romantic drama Five Feet Apart, in which she starred opposite Cole Sprouse.

Her popularity exploded recently when she starred as Portia in the second season of the HBO comedy The White Lotus. The series has received a positive critical response. It was included on the American Film Institute’s list of the ten best programs of 2021 and 2022, and received various accolades including ten Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globes.

Most recently Haley warmed not only my heart, probably the whole worlds, when she confessed to James Corden on The Late Late Show that she was a superfan of the Jonas Brothers, and even admitted that Nick Jonas in particular had her heart. Corden shared a throwback photo of Haley as a teen after she stood in line for hours to meet her idols and posed with the former Disney stars in a framed photo. What happened next stole our hearts;

Thanks to this encounter Haley got the chance to not only meet her idols but also appear in one of The Jonas Brothers music videos, she took to her socials to make the world know her dreams had been made;

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A post shared by Haley lu Richardson (@haleyluhoo)

So what’s next for Haley Lu Richardson? She’s set to lead the rom-com ‘Love At First Sight’. “Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s (Richardson) life. Having missed her flight, she’s stuck at JFK airport and late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s sitting in her row. A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?”, reads the synopsis.

You can see exclusive photos below thanks to IMDB.