Early life

Riley was born in Menston, West Yorkshire, the son of Amanda, a nursery school teacher, and Andrew Riley, a textile agent. He was educated at Malsis School, Cross Hills, and at Uppingham School. He was turned down by both the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career

Film

His breakthrough performance came when he played the role of Ian Curtis in the film Control, a biopic about the lead singer of the 1970s post-punk band Joy Division. The film received high critical acclaim due in no small part to Riley's performance, which won him a selection of awards including the British Independent Film Award for "Most Promising Newcomer" a BAFTA "Rising Star" nomination; and a Mark Kermode nod for Best Actor 2007.

Prior to his portrayal of Ian Curtis, Riley played the Fall frontman Mark E Smith in the Michael Winterbottom film 24 Hour Party People, which details the Factory Records era and featured Sean Harris as Ian Curtis. Riley's scenes, however, were omitted from the final cut.

In September 2007, Riley was cast in Gerald McMorrow's British science fiction film Franklyn. He starred as the lead role in 13, an English language remake of the French thriller 13 Tzameti that has yet to have an American and European release. He played the role of Pinkie Brown in Brighton Rock alongside Helen Mirren, released 4 February 2011. He also starred in Walter Salles' film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's autobiographical On the Road playing the narrator and protagonist Sal Paradise. He also has a small role in the 2011 German comedy Rubbeldiekatz, in which his wife Alexandra Maria Lara plays the female lead. His role is listed as "Wagenmeister". In Byzantium (2012), a film directed by Neil Jordan, he appears alongside Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as Darvell. In 2012, Riley was cast as Diaval in Disney's Maleficent, alongside Angelina Jolie. The film was released May 2014. Riley was also cast as Fitzwilliam Darcy (Mr. Darcy) in the film, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, released in February 2016.

Modelling

He featured in the autumn/winter 2008 publicity campaign for the British fashion house Burberry, supervised by Christopher Bailey and shot by Mario Testino. He modeled the fall/winter 2014 Stefano Pilati-designed couture collection of Ermenegildo Zegna. He was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men in 2015.

Music

For a few years he was the lead singer of the Leeds band 10,000 Things, with whom he achieved moderate success. After their first release on indie label Voltage Records in 2002, they signed to major label Polydor for one self-titled album They disbanded in 2005.

Personal life

As of 2011, he lives in Berlin with his wife, Control and Suite Française co-star Alexandra Maria Lara. They married in August 2009 and have a son named Ben, born in January 2014.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2007	Control	Ian Curtis	Bratislava International Film Festival Award for Best Actor British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer Chicago International Film Festival Award for Best Actor Edinburgh International Film Festival Award for Best British Performance Empire Award for Best Newcomer Kermode Award for Best Actor International Cinephile Society Award for Best Actor London Film Critics Circle Award for British Breakthrough of the Year - Acting Nominated - BAFTA Awards - Rising Star Award Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Best Actor Nominated - Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor Nominated - London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor of the Year Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Breakthrough Performer
2008	Franklyn	Milo
2010	13	Vincent Ferro
2010	Brighton Rock	Pinkie Brown	Nominated - Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor
2012	On the Road	Sal Paradise
2012	Byzantium	Darvell
2014	The Dark Valley	Greider
2014	Maleficent	Diaval
2015	Suite Française	Benoit Labarie
2016	Pride and Prejudice and Zombies	Mr. Darcy
2016	Free Fire		Filming
2017	Ghost in the Shell		Filming

[ Source: Wikipedia ]