Richard started his high school at Huncote Community Primary School and later on shifted to Brockington College. He initially while at school got interested towards music and started playing various instruments and started participating in various musical activities. He for his graduation joined Pattison College where he specialized in the field of arts, drama, and dance and wanted to pursue his career in the field of musical dramas. Richard participated in many stage shows and dramas during his college tenure and gained some popularity there because of his performances. Richard is very secretive in nature and calls himself to be anti-social. Very less is known about his personal life on the internet and he rarely likes to talk about his personal life in media or in interviews and chat shows. Whether he is married or not or whether he has any girlfriend or not is still not known and Richard does not like to comment on this as well.

According to his biography, Richard developed some interest in musical dramas in the initial phase of his career and joined a musical theatre after passing out of his graduation. He did some drama shows there with the theatre and started becoming popular. However, he did not find much interest in continuing drama for a longer time and decided to learn to act. He joined an acting course and on the completion of his course entered into the TV and movies industry. He did many short roles in many TV shows and movies in the beginning of his career. He rose to fame however with the show named ‘North & South’ which was telecasted in the year 2004.

The show went on to become an instant success and Richard’s acting in the show was much appreciated. He was offered many roles because of his performance he worked in some popular TV shows like ‘Robin Hood’, ‘The Vicar of Dibley’, Spooks’ and many others in the later phase of his career. He also acted in many movies and his role in the movie ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ and its subsequent series as a supporting actor is one of the most appreciated roles and has won him many awards and recognitions. He has also acted in other movies like ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, ‘Into the Storm’, ‘Pilgrimage’, ‘Urban and the Shed Crew’ and many others.

Richard’s estimated net worth is $13 million which he has earned working in TV shows, movies and giving his voice as a narrator in many shows. He is also very active on social media sites like Twitter where he has got over 1.9 Lacs followers and keeps on posting his regular updates there.