Charlotte Frances Riley (born 29 December 1981) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Sarah Hurst in ''
Easy Virtue'' (2008) and as
Catherine Earnshaw
Catherine Earnshaw is a fictional character and the female protagonist of the 1847 novel ''Wuthering Heights'' written by Emily Brontë. Catherine is one of two children to Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw, the original tenants of the Wuthering Heights est ...
in
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's adaptation of ''
Wuthering Heights
''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...
'' (2009).
Early life and education
Riley was born in
Grindon, County Durham. She was brought up in County Durham and attended
Teesside High School
Teesside High School is a co-educational independent day-school in Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees, England.
Introduction
Teesside High School is a co-educational independent day school in Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees, in northeast England ...
from the age of 9 until 18. She attended
St Cuthbert's Society, Durham
St Cuthbert's Society, colloquially known as Cuth's, is a college of Durham University. It was founded in 1888 for students who were not attached to the existing colleges. St Cuthbert's Society is a Bailey college, based on Durham's peninsula next ...
from 2000 to 2003, performing with the sketch comedy group, the Durham Revue and in plays and musicals and graduating with a degree in English and Linguistics; she also attended the
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art from 2005 to 2007.
Career
In 2004, Riley won the
''Sunday Times''' Playwriting Award for ''Shaking Cecilia'', which she co-wrote with Tiffany Wood. In 2011, she played Anna in
Helen Edmundson's adaptation of ''
Anna of the Five Towns
''Anna of the Five Towns'' is a novel by Arnold Bennett, first published in 1902 and one of his best-known works.
Plot background
The plot centres on Anna Tellwright, daughter of a wealthy but miserly and dictatorial father, living in the St ...
'' on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
. She appeared in ''
Edge of Tomorrow
''Edge of Tomorrow'' (also known as ''Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow'') is a 2014 American science fiction action film starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt with Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson in supporting roles. Directed by Doug Liman wi ...
'', starring
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
and
Emily Blunt
Emily Olivia Leah Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awar ...
. She also appeared onstage at the
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...
production of ''The Priory'', by
Michael Wynne
Michael Walter Wynne (born September 4, 1944) is an American politician and business executive and was the 21st United States Secretary of the Air Force. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asked for and received his resignation (and that of Chief ...
. She co-starred in ''
London Has Fallen
''London Has Fallen'' is a 2016 American action thriller film directed by Babak Najafi and written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Chad St. John and Christian Gudegast. It is the second installment in the ''Has Fallen'' film series ...
'', the sequel to the 2013 film ''
Olympus Has Fallen'', where she portrayed an
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
agent Jacqueline Marshall. She also portrayed Arabella Strange in the mini-series adaptation of ''
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' is the debut novel by British writer Susanna Clarke. Published in 2004, it is an alternative history set in 19th-century England around the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Its premise is that magic once existed i ...
''. In 2018, she got a lead role in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', which was cancelled after its first series. In 2019, Riley played the role of Lottie / Ghost of Christmas Present in the BBC mini-series ''
. She appeared in the
. Riley and Hardy worked together on ''Wuthering Heights'' and ''The Take'', and they married in July 2014. In October 2015, their first child was born. Riley had her second baby with Hardy in December 2018.