Talulah Jane Riley-Milburn[1][2] (born 26 September 1985) is an English actress. She has appeared in films, including Pride & Prejudice (2005), St Trinian's (2007) and its sequel St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009), The Boat That Rocked (2009), and Inception (2010). She has also appeared on the HBO science fiction western series Westworld (2016–2018) and the FX biographical miniseries Pistol (2022).

Talulah Riley
Riley in 2009
Born
Talulah Jane Riley-Milburn

(1985-09-26) 26 September 1985 (age 38)
Hertford, England
Alma materOpen University
OccupationActress
Years active2003–present
Spouses
(m. 2010; div. 2012)
(m. 2013; div. 2016)
Partner(s)Thomas Brodie-Sangster (2022–present; engaged)

Early life and education edit

Riley grew up in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire,[3] the only child of Una Riley, founder of a security systems company and a public relations company,[4] and Doug Milburn, formerly head of the National Crime Squad. As of October 2021, her father works as a screenwriter[citation needed] and has written episodes of Silent Witness and The Bill. Riley was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College, independent Berkhamsted Collegiate School, and Haberdashers' Girls' School. While acting in London, she studied for a degree in Natural Sciences at the Open University.[5]

Career edit

Television edit

Riley's television credits include episodes of Poirot (2003), Marple (2006), Doctor Who (2008's "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead"). She played Lila, a love-struck writer, in the short-lived E4 series Nearly Famous (2007).[6] She played Angela in the first two seasons of the television series Westworld.[7]

Stage edit

Riley made her stage debut in The Philadelphia Story at the Old Vic in 2005. Her performance in a 2006 revival Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke was described by critic Rachel Read as being "delightful".[8]

Film edit

Riley played Mary Bennet in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, acted in the role of Marianne in 2009's The Boat That Rocked, and starred in the 2007 film St Trinian's and its 2009 sequel St Trinian's: The Legend of Fritton's Gold.[9][10]

Riley appeared as a disguise used by Tom Hardy's character in Inception (2010). Also in 2010, Love and Distrust was released direct-to-video, featuring five unique short films; the first of these was The Summer House, in which Riley was co-lead, opposite Robert Pattinson. Available as a standalone download, The Summer House was the number one film on iTunes worldwide on its first day of release, holding that position for several days.[11] She also appeared in White Frog.[12]

Between 2009 and 2015, Riley developed an idea and story by her father into a screenplay, then ultimately directed (after being unable to hire another director to helm the project)[13] and starred in the resulting feature film Scottish Mussel.

Writing edit

Her debut novel, Acts of Love, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in August 2016.[14][15]

In June 2022, Riley released her second novel, The Quickening, also published by Hodder & Stoughton.

Other edit

She was featured on the March 2010 cover of Esquire.[16][17]

In the year 2011, she was named a "Brit to Watch" by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.[18]

Personal life edit

In 2008, Riley began dating Elon Musk; they married in 2010 at Dornoch Cathedral in Scotland.[19][20] In January 2012, Musk ended their relationship,[21][22] and sought a divorce in March 2012.[21][23]

In July 2013, Musk and Riley remarried.[24] In a 60 Minutes interview in 2014, the couple stated that they had reconciled and were living together again, along with Musk's five children from his first marriage to writer Justine Musk.[25] On 31 December 2014, Musk filed for divorce a second time although he later withdrew the action.[26][27] After living separately for six months, Riley filed for a second divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court on 21 March 2016.[19] The divorce was finalised in October 2016.[28]

Since July 2022, it has been reported that Riley is dating actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster after meeting while working together on Pistol.[29]

During Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, text exchanges between Musk and Riley were released where she pleaded with him to buy the social media site, asking "Please do something to fight woke-ism. I will do anything to help! xx".[30]

It was announced in July 2023 that Riley and Brodie-Sangster were engaged.[31]

Filmography edit

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2005 Pride & Prejudice Mary Bennet
2007 St Trinian's Annabelle Fritton
2007 Friends Forever Grace Short film
2007 Wilder Carro [32]
2009 The Boat That Rocked Marianne
2009 The Summer House Jane Short film
2009 St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold Annabelle Fritton
2010 Inception Eames's Blonde Woman disguise
2010 Love & Distrust Jane Archive footage of The Summer House
2011 The Dilemma Concept Car Spokesmodel
2011 Revenge of the Electric Car Herself Documentary
2012 The Knot Alexandra
2012 White Frog Ms. Lee
2012 Transmission TBA
2013 The Liability The Girl
2013 In a World... Pippa
2013 Thor: The Dark World Asgardian Nurse
2015 Scottish Mussel Beth Also writer and director
2015 The Bad Education Movie Phoebe
2016 Submerged Jessie
2018 The Last Witness Jeanette Mitchell
2020 Bloodshot Gina DeCarlo
2021 Father Christmas Is Back Vicky Christmas
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2003 Agatha Christie's Poirot Young Angela Warren Episode: "Five Little Pigs"
2006 Agatha Christie's Marple Megan Hunter Episode: "The Moving Finger"
2007 Nearly Famous Lila Reed Main role; 6 episodes
2008 Phoo Action Lady Elenor Rigsby Cancelled before broadcast[33]
2008 Doctor Who Miss Evangelista Episodes: "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead"
2008 The Gemma Factor Nell Scenes not broadcast[34]
2016–2018 Westworld Angela Recurring role (season 1); main role (season 2); 12 episodes[35]
2022 Pistol Vivienne Westwood Main role; miniseries
2022 The Elon Musk Show Herself Three-part docuseries

References edit

  1. ^ "Law Office of Daniel Jensen, P.C." Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  2. ^ Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005; Ancestry.com. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  3. ^ Talulah Riley: 'Fifty Shades inspired me to create a sexually conniving female character' Archived 20 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Talulah Riley: how to marry a billionaire". Evening Standard. 26 November 2010. Archived from the original on 26 February 2011.
  5. ^ Lesley O'Toole (17 May 2013). "Actress Talulah Riley shares her obsession with mortality and life with a billionaire". Metro. Archived from the original on 9 March 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (23 March 2017). "'Westworld': Talulah Riley Promoted To Series Regular For Season 2 On HBO". Deadline. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Angela played by Talulah Riley". HBO. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  8. ^ Read, Rachel (27 September 2007). "Summer and Smoke @ Nottingham Playhouse". BBC Nottingham. Archived from the original on 26 July 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  9. ^ Brodie, Anne (26 July 2010). "Talulah Riley - The Summer House/Inception". Monsters and Critics.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Palacios, Kim (23 July 2010). "Robert Pattinson's short film "The Summer House" dominates iTunes". Hollywood News. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  11. ^ "Pattinson's Summer House is an iTunes Smash" (Press release). Shorts International. 23 July 2010. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  12. ^ "White Frog – Official Website". Whitefrogthemovie.tumblr.com. 26 July 2011. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  13. ^ Christie, Janet (23 June 2015). "Talulah Riley on directorial debut Scottish Mussel". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  14. ^ Riley, Talulah (25 April 2019). Acts of Love. Hodder. ISBN 9781473637900. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  15. ^ Hosie, Rachel (19 August 2016). "Talulah Riley: 'Fifty Shades inspired me to create a sexually conniving female character'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  16. ^ Singh, Anita (3 February 2010). "Talulah Riley: the world's sexiest quantum physicist?". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010.
  17. ^ "Girls on top: The next generation of British actresses". The Independent. 24 July 2009. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  18. ^ "42 Brits to Watch announced" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  19. ^ a b "Actor Talulah Riley files to divorce billionaire Elon Musk, again". The Guardian. Associated Press. 21 March 2016. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2016. The pair first married in 2010 and divorced in 2012. They remarried 18 months later.
  20. ^ Boyle, Alan (18 January 2012). "SpaceX's millionaire founder tweets about marital split". NBC News. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  21. ^ a b Elliott, Hannah (3 March 2012). "At Home With Elon Musk: The (Soon-to-Be) Bachelor Billionaire". Forbes. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  22. ^ Lai, Jennifer (19 January 2012). "Elon Musk Divorce: Announces Split From Talulah Riley On Twitter". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  23. ^ Troup, Rose (22 August 2012). "SpaceX founder Elon Musk pays wife $4 million in divorce settlement". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  24. ^ Kimble, Lindsay (18 November 2016). "Elon Musk and Talulah Riley Divorced: Report". People. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  25. ^ Pelley, Scott (30 March 2014). "Tesla and SpaceX: Elon Musk's industrial empire". CBS News. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  26. ^ "Elon Musk, actress wife split again". Yahoo! News. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  27. ^ "Elon Musk, actress wife split again". 2 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  28. ^ "Elon Musk and Talulah Riley reach divorce settlement". TV3 (Ireland). 21 October 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  29. ^ "'I've seen bedsheets with my face on them': Thomas Brodie-Sangster on obsessive fans, Love Actually and the Sex Pistols". The Guardian. 30 May 2022. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  30. ^ "Elon Musk's ex-wife is reportedly the mysterious phone contact 'TJ' who texted him about fighting 'woke-ism' at Twitter, and called the banning of a conservative satire site 'crazy'". Business Insider. 4 October 2022. Archived from the original on 18 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  31. ^ "Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Talulah Riley Are Engaged: 'Love Is All Around". People.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  32. ^ Foreman, Liza (24 May 2007). "Make my day. Make my film". The Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
  33. ^ Holmwood, Leigh (17 November 2008). "BBC3 drops new drama Phoo Action". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  34. ^ Coates, Brian (9 July 2008). "Lights, camera, rain... BBC film crew comes to Calderdale to shoot comedy drama". Halifax Today. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  35. ^ "HBO's Westworld Creators Talk AI, Sentience, And Surveillance". Fast Company. 30 September 2016. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.

External links edit