Early life

Reilly was born and brought up in Chessington, Surrey, England, the daughter of a hospital receptionist mother, and Jack Reilly, a police officer. She attended Tolworth Girls' School in Kingston, which was a Comprehensive School where she studied drama for GCSE. Her grandparents were Irish.

Career

Reilly wrote to the producers of the television drama Prime Suspect to ask for work, and six months later she auditioned for a role in an episode of Prime Suspect 4: Inner Circle, which aired on ITV on 7 May 1995. Six years later, she again appeared alongside Helen Mirren in the film Last Orders.

Her first professional role was followed by a series of parts on the English stage. She worked with Terry Johnson in four productions: Elton John’s Glasses (1997), The London Cuckolds (1998), The Graduate (2000) and Piano/Forte (2006). Johnson wrote Piano/Forte for her and said, "Kelly is possibly the most natural, dyed-in-the-wool, deep-in-the-bone actress I've ever worked with." Reilly has stated that she learned the most as an actor from Karel Reisz, who directed her in The Yalta Game in Dublin in 2001. She said, "He was my masterclass. There is no way I would have been able to do Miss Julie if I hadn't done that play."

By 2000, Reilly felt she was being typecast in comedy roles, and actively sought out a role as the young Amy in Last Orders, directed by Fred Schepisi. This was followed by a role in the Royal Court's 2001 rerun of Sarah Kane's Blasted. The Times called her "theatrical Viagra". In 2002, Reilly starred alongside Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris as Wendy, an English Erasmus student, in the French comedy L'Auberge espagnole (The Spanish Apartment). She resumed her role in the 2005 sequel, Les Poupées russes (The Russian Dolls) and the 2013 follow-up, Casse-tête chinois (Chinese Puzzle). Also in 2005, Reilly had roles in such films as Mrs Henderson Presents and Pride & Prejudice.

Reilly's first lead role came in 2008 in the horror film Eden Lake and, in 2009, she had a high-profile role on prime-time British television in Above Suspicion. Reilly also appeared in three major films: Sherlock Holmes, Triage, and Me and Orson Welles.

In 2011, Reilly reprised her role as Mary Watson in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

In 2012, Reilly appeared opposite Sam Rockwell in A Single Shot and had a leading role in Robert Zemeckis' Flight opposite Denzel Washington.

In 2014, Reilly starred with Greg Kinnear in the film Heaven is for Real and in the John Michael McDonagh film Calvary.

In 2014, Reilly starred in the short-lived ABC series Black Box, as Catherine Black, a famed neuroscientist who explores and solves the mysteries of the brain (the black box) while hiding her own bipolar disorder from the world.

In 2015, Reilly starred in the second season of HBO's True Detective as Jordan Semyon, the wife of Vince Vaughn's character Frank Semyon. The same year, Reilly made her Broadway debut opposite Clive Owen and Eve Best in Harold Pinter's play Old Times at the American Airlines Theatre.

Awards and nominations

Reilly's performance in After Miss Julie at the Donmar Warehouse made her a star of the London stage and earned her a nomination for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress of 2003. Aged 26, she was the youngest person ever nominated for that award. In 2005, she won Best Newcomer Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role as Wendy in The Russian Dolls (Les Poupées Russes). In 2006, Reilly won the Empire Award for Best Newcomer for her role in the British comedy film, Mrs Henderson Presents. She was nominated once again for an Olivier Award for her performance as Desdemona in the acclaimed production of Othello at the Donmar Warehouse in 2009. Reilly was nominated for Best Actress at the British Independent Film Awards for Eden Lake in 2010. She won the Spotlight Award at the 2012 Hollywood Film Festival, for her performance as Nicole in Flight.

Personal life

Reilly was previously engaged to actor Jonah Lotan. Reilly married Kyle Baugher, a financier, in 2012.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Maybe Baby	Nimnh
2000	Peaches	Cherry
2001	Last Orders	Young Amy
2001	Starched	Maid	Short film
2002	L'Auberge Espagnole	Wendy	AKA, Pot Luck or The Spanish Apartment
2003	Dead Bodies	Viv McCormack
2004	Libertine, TheThe Libertine	Jane
2005	Russian Dolls	Wendy
2005	Pride & Prejudice	Caroline Bingley
2005	Mrs Henderson Presents	Maureen
2007	Puffball	Liffey
2008	Eden Lake	Jenny
2008	Me and Orson Welles	Muriel Brassler
2009	Shell Shock	Diane
2009	Sherlock Holmes	Mary Morstan
2010	Meant to Be	Amanda
2010	Ti presento un amico	Sarah
2011	1320	Marry Hudson
2011	Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster	Doreen Boyd
2011	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	Mary Watson
2012	Flight	Nicole
2013	Single Shot, AA Single Shot	Moira
2013	Casse-tête chinois	Wendy	AKA, Chinese Puzzle
2014	Innocence	Pamela Hamilton
2014	Heaven Is for Real	Sonja Burpo
2014	Calvary	Fiona Lavelle

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Biz, TheThe Biz	Laura	TV series
1995	Prime Suspect: Inner Circles	Polly Henry	TV film
1996	Ruth Rendell Mysteries, TheThe Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Kimberly	Episodes: "Simisola: Parts 2 & 3"
1996	Bramwell	Kathleen Le Saux	Episode: "2.5"
1996	Poldark	Clowance Poldark	TV film
1996	Sharman	Sophie Bright	Episode: "1.3"
1997	Rebecca	Clarice	TV miniseries
1997	Pie in the Sky	Tina	Episode: "The Apprentice"
1997	History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, TheThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling	Nancy Miller	TV miniseries
1998	The Children of the New Forest	Patience Heatherstone	TV film
1999	Wonderful You	Nancy	TV miniseries
1999	Sex 'n' Death	Julie	TV film
2002	Safe House, TheThe Safe House	Fiona "Finn" MacKenzie	TV film
2003	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Mary Gerrard	Episode: "Sad Cypress"
2006	A for Andromeda	Christine Jones / Andromeda	TV film
2007	Joe's Palace	Charlotte	TV film
2008	He Kills Coppers	Jeannie	TV film
2009	Above Suspicion	DC Anna Travis	Main role
2010	Above Suspicion 2: The Red Dahlia	DC Anna Travis	Main role
2011	Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent	DI Anna Travis	Main role
2012	Above Suspicion: Silent Scream	DI Anna Travis	Main role
2014	Black Box	Doctor Catherine Black	Main role (13 episodes)
2015	True Detective	Jordan Semyon	Main role; Season 2

[ Source: Wikipedia ]