Another article posted online -- I didn't realize this movie was opening so soon!

Actings royalty plays the countess
By Inside Track
Tuesday, December 13, 2005

British acting royal Natasha Richardson, star of The White Countess, totally identified with her exiled Russian countess character, who was reduced to rags in Shanghai at the height of World War II.

I think you get used to, not luxury, but basic amenities, which you are not necessarily going to find outside Shanghai, the actress, 42, told the Track yesterday whilst in Boston to promote the Merchant-Ivory flick.

And then there were the near-death accidents on the way to work!

(We) started every day at 4 in the morning thinking, Am I going to make it to work alive? said Richardson, whose grandfather was knighted actor Sir Michael Redgrave. Youd have four near-misses a day I kid you not! It was really uncomfortable conditions.

But at least Natasha wasnt the only member of the Redgrave clan to endure the less-than-glam surroundings. Her mum, Vanessa Redgrave, and aunt, Lynn Redgrave, co-starred in White Countess as her dead husbands aristocratic rels.

It was glorious acting with them, said Richardson, who has been married to actor Liam Neeson for 11 years and is the mother of two.

Natasha gave Auntie Lynn props for her brilliantly mean rendition of Countess Sophias mother-in-law. She was, she said, an absolute, vicious bitch!

The White Countess opens in select theaters Dec. 21.