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Who is Charlotte Riley?
Evil tongues could tell that she is known only as the wife of the famous “Venom” actor, Tom Hardy, but Charlotte Riley is much more than a celebrity wife. She’s a renowned actress with 35 acting credits to her name, who has earned numerous accolades and award nominations, including the Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress on Television, for her portrayal of Caris in the TV mini-series “World Without End”.
Just to mention a few of her other notable roles, Charlotte was seen in the hit series “Peaky Blinders”, and starred in the 2012 horror thriller “Entity”, which brought her a nomination for the British Horror Film Festival: Best Actress.
Early life, family, and education
Born Charlotte Frances Riley under the zodiac sign of Capricorn on 29 December 1981, she’s aged 41 as of June 2023. She hails from Grindon, County Durham, England, holds British nationality, and was raised in her hometown by her parents, Michael and Margaret, whose occupations haven’t been disclosed. Charlotte has two siblings, namely Simon and Joanne, who prefer to keep their lives away from the media’s attention.
Speaking of Charlotte’s educational background, she attended Teesside High School, and upon matriculating in 1999, enrolled at the St Cuthbert’s Society College, Durham University, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Linguistics in 2003. While at college, Charlotte discovered her love for acting, performing with the comedy sketch group, called the Durham Revue.
In 2004, she won the Sunday Times Award for Playwriting for the play “Shaking Cecilia” which she co-wrote with her colleague Tiffany Wood. From 2005 through 2007, Charlotte studied at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Roles in series
Charlotte made her acting debut playing Chloe in an episode of the series “Grownups” in 2007. Later that year, she guest-starred as Tanya Cusan in “Holby City”. Her first notable role came in the 2009 TV mini-series “Wuthering Heights”, in which she played Cathy. She starred opposite her future husband, Tom Hardy, who played Heathcliff, in the series based on the novel of the same title by Emily Bronte.
Later that year, Charlotte was seen as Maggie in another TV mini-series, “The Take”, in which she also starred opposite Tom Hardy. The show, based on the novel of the same title by Martina Cole, won the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Make-Up & Hair.
Charlotte followed with her guest appearances in “Marple” (2010) and “DCI Banks” (2011) before she was cast to play Caris in the 2012 mini-series “World Without End”, a thriller drama that followed the story of the citizens of the English town of Kingsbridge surviving at the time of the Hundred Years’ War with France. As mentioned, for her performance, Charlotte was nominated for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television.
'So will you consider me?' – Introducing Charlotte Riley as May Carleton #PeakyBlinders pic.twitter.com/ZxXOf3zweD
— Peaky Blinders (@ThePeakyBlinder) October 16, 2014
Between 2014 and 2017, Charlotte had the recurring role as May Carleton, a wealthy widow and the owner of race horses, in the world-popular crime drama series “Peaky Blinders”, starring Cillian Murphy, Sophie Rundle and Paul Anderson, which followed the story of a gangster family and their boss, Tommy Shelby. The show had 51 award nominations and 22 wins, including a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award.
Concurrently, Charlotte co-starred as Arabella in the 2015 TV mini-series “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell”, starring Bertie Carvel and Eddie Marsan. She was also seen playing Rachel Lombard in the 2016 TV mini-series “Close to the Enemy”.
In 2018, Charlotte was cast to play Robina Lund in the series “Trust”, a biographic crime-drama about the heir of an oil tycoons’ clan, John Paul Getty III, who was kidnapped by the Italian mafia, released after five months when a ransom of $2.2 million was paid. Later that year, Charlotte played Holly Evans in the drama “Press”, followed by her role as Juliette in “Dark Heart”, also in 2018.
In the following year, she was cast to play Lottie in the mini-series “A Christmas Carol”, which was a gothic adaptation of Charles Dickens’ story, also starring Guy Pearce, Stephen Graham, and Andy Serkis.
Most recently, Charlotte was seen as Aelita West in the 2022 series “The Peripheral”, a mystery science-fiction drama starring Chloe Grace Moretz.
Roles in movies
Charlotte made her big-screen debut as Sarah Hurst in the 2008 movie “Easy Virtue”. Four years later, she was cast to play Kate Hansen in “Entity”, starring opposite Dervla Kirwan and Branko Tomovic. Besides the aforementioned Charlotte’s award nomination, she shares with the rest of the crew two London Independent Film Festival awards for Best Low Budget Film and Best Sci-Fi/Horror Feature.
Charlotte was next seen as Camilla in the 2014 movie “Grand Street”, followed by her roles in “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014) and “Killing Thyme” (2015) before she landed the role of Peggy Chase in the biographic adventure “In the Heart of the Sea”, also starring Cillian Murphy and Chris Hemsworth. The movie followed the story of the experience of a New England whaling ship from 1820, that later inspired the novel “Moby-Dick” by Herman Melville. For her performance, Charlotte was nominated for the Teen Choice Award- Choice Movie Actress: Action.
After that, Charlotte portrayed MI6 operative Jacquelin Marshall in the 2016 action thriller “London Has Fallen”, starring Morgan Freeman, Gerard Butler, and Aaron Eckhart. Two years later, she was seen as Susan in “Swimming with Men”, her most recent big-screen appearance.
In the following years, Charlotte starred in several short movies, including “Mairi” (2020), “The Interview” (2021), and “Fireworks” (2022). Later in 2022, she played Linette in the short movie “Apex”, which earned her the Hollywood Shortfest Award for Best Actress.
Briefly about her husband Tom Hardy and their marriage
Charlotte hasn’t spoken about her previous relationships before she met her future husband, Tom Hardy; even their love story was held private until they decided to speak publicly about them being a couple. Charlotte and Tom met in 2009 on the set of the TV mini-series “Wuthering Heights”, and it seems that it wasn’t long until romance blossomed.
Tom Hardy is currently one of Hollywood’s most wanted actors, and his breakthrough role was his portrayal of Eames in the 2010 movie “Inception”. Born Edward Thomas Hardy under the zodiac sign of Virgo on 15 September 1977, he’s today aged 45. He’s starred in numerous hit movies, including the aforementioned “Venom” and its sequel, while for his role as John Fitzgerald in the 2015 movie “The Revenant”, Tom was nominated for the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. Before his marriage with Charlotte, Tom was married to Sarah Ward, a producer – the two married in 1999, and divorced in 2004. Tom dated an assistant director, Rachael Speed, and they have a son together, Louis, born in 2008.
When it comes to Charlotte’s and Tom’s love story, their romance blossomed into a marriage – the two exchanged their wedding vows in July 2014, in a private ceremony held in the presence of their closest family members and friends.
Their first son, Leo, was born in October 2015, and Forrest, named after Tom’s favorite movie character (Forest Gump), was born in December 2018.
As of June 2023, the family lives in their residence in the Surrey countryside, in England.
How rich is Charlotte Riley? Net worth
Starring in hit series, and making some great appearances in the movies, Charlotte has earned decent wealth thanks to her acting talent. As of June 2023, her net worth has been estimated at over $8 million. We know you’re wondering, how rich is her husband – well, according to sources, Tom Hardy has a net worth estimated at over $55 million.
