HOLLYWOOD - Like the title character in "The White Countess," opening Wednesday, Natasha Richardson is a transplant.
But unlike the woman she portrays, Richardson is no exile - she voluntarily left England for New York 13 years ago . . . to become a star.
Her character, Countess Sofia Belinsky, however, fled after the 1917 Russian Revolution and failed to find fame or fortune. To support her extended family, she becomes a dance hall girl and occasional prostitute.
But her life changes after she meets Ralph Fiennes, a blind American former diplomat, who hires her to be the hostess at his elegant Shanghai nightclub.
"'The White Countess' is a sweeping romantic epic," Richardson says, "a throwback to 'Dr. Zhivago' and 'Casablanca.' "
The role gave her the opportunity to work with her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, for only the second time.
"Having my mother and Lynn [Redgrave, her aunt] out in Shanghai for a few weeks was very comforting," Richardson says. "The working conditions were about as rough as you can get. We had this great feeling of being in the trenches and joking about the situation."
"Natasha has a volatile quality that makes you feel she's really lived," "White Countess" director James Ivory says. "She's not just a pretty woman. She's tall and striking, and you could believe she'd be a member of a family that was aristocratic. She was always right there ready to give her all, and she has the kind of energy that shows."
Since marrying Liam Neeson 11 years ago and having two sons, Michael, 10, and Daniel, 9, Richardson has focused more on New York City theater ("Cabaret," "Closer," "A Streetcar Named Desire") than on films. Neeson, meanwhile, makes two or three films a year. "We have a wonderful nanny," Richardson, 42, says, "but we'd never leave the kids for more than two weeks without one of us being there. Liam has just gone off to start a movie ['Seraphim Falls'], and I'm home for the next few months.
"We just had a stint of both being home. Sometimes it's more difficult than separation when you have two actors not working and knocking around home, getting on each other's nerves."
The couple met in 1991 when they co-starred in a Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's "Anna Christie." They live on a former dairy farm outside New York City and try to keep their children out of the public eye.
"Liam took them once to a 'Harry Potter' premiere," Richardson says, "and it was a very scary experience for my 9-year-old. Ever since, when we've talked about going to a movie, he says, 'Mama, Mama, promise me there won't be any photographers there.' "
Richardson's branch of the Redgrave acting dynasty may end with her. "I hope my boys don't become actors," she says. "Neither is showing any signs of being interested. When I was a child we'd put on shows and sing to the soundtracks of musicals and dress up. I loved performing."
Although she won a London Drama Critics Award at 22 as Nina in her mother's London production of "The Sea Gull," her major triumphs have been in the U.S.
"I sometimes think about moving back to England," says the actress, who has become a naturalized American citizen. "Partly it's homesickness, family and friends and a culture that I understand and is mine.
"But one of the things I've enjoyed about New York is not having those [Redgrave] luggage tags around my neck. It's nice being appreciated for my own work."