Talulah Riley

Biography:

Talulah Jane Riley-Milburn was born on 26 September 1985 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, where she was raised as the only child of Una Riley, who founded both a security systems and a public relations company, and Doug Milburn, the former head of the National Crime Squad. As of October 2021, her father had transitioned into screenwriting, contributing to television shows such as Silent Witness and The Bill. Riley attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Berkhamsted Collegiate School, and Haberdashers’ Girls’ School. While pursuing her acting career in London, she studied Natural Sciences through the Open University.

Riley’s television work includes appearances in Poirot (2003), Marple (2006), and Doctor Who (2008) in the episodes “Silence in the Library” and “Forest of the Dead.” She portrayed Lila, a romantic writer, in E4’s Nearly Famous (2007), and played Angela in the first two seasons of HBO’s Westworld.

She made her stage debut in The Philadelphia Story at the Old Vic in 2005 and received praise for her performance in the 2006 revival of Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke, which critic Rachel Read described as “delightful.”

Riley appeared as Mary Bennet in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and as Marianne in The Boat That Rocked (2009). She also starred in St Trinian’s (2007) and its sequel St Trinian’s: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold (2009).

In 2010, she played a brief but memorable role in Christopher Nolan’s Inception as a disguise used by Tom Hardy’s character. That same year, she starred opposite Robert Pattinson in The Summer House, part of the anthology film Love and Distrust. The short became the number one film on iTunes worldwide upon release. She later appeared in the drama White Frog.

Between 2009 and 2015, Riley adapted a story written by her father into a screenplay and, after struggling to find a director, chose to direct and star in the resulting film, Scottish Mussel.

Her first novel, Acts of Love, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in August 2016, followed by her second book, The Quickening, in June 2022. She also contributed to Encounters with Jane Austen: Celebrating 250 Years.

Riley was featured on the cover of Esquire in March 2010 and was named one of BAFTA’s “Brits to Watch” in 2011.

She married billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2010 at Dornoch Cathedral in Scotland. The couple divorced in 2012 but remarried in 2013. In a 2014 60 Minutes interview, they confirmed they were living together again along with Musk’s five sons from his previous marriage. Musk filed for divorce later that year but withdrew the filing. After separating again, Riley filed for divorce in March 2016, and it was finalized in October of that year.

On 22 June 2024, Talulah Riley married actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster in Hertfordshire.