Born 26 September 1985, Talulah Jane Riley-Milburn is an English actress, model and author. She was born to Doug Milburn, a one time head of the National Security Squad and screenwriter, and Una Riley, who is well known for her security firm and PR company.
Talulah has appeared in many films such as “Pride & Prejudice”, “The Boat That Rocked”, “St Trinian’s”, “Inception”, and “St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold”.
It is a given that a lot of times, celebs are famous not for the reasons they particularly would have preferred. The public pries into the personal lives of public figures so much that their actual talent and quality takes a backseat. Such can be said for the acting career of Talulah Riley, whose love life has enjoyed more attention than her craft.
More than her acting career, Talulah is more widely known for her dramatic relationship with technology giant and billionaire Elon Musk. The two were married twice before finally going separate ways. You can say that her career has been slightly overshadowed by her involvement with Elon Musk, and unfairly so. She has proven her talent in several mediums like stage, television, and film and has managed to keep feeding her craft despite her tumultuous personal life. We take a closer look at her life as a whole in this article, touching on every aspect of it as we look to paint a more representative picture of who the actress is. First, here are ten interesting facts about Talulah Riley.
10 facts about Talulah Riley
- Talulah Riley was born on 26 September 1985 in Hertford, England.
- She was named by BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Art) as one of the Brits to Watch in 2011.
- Her debut film role came in the 2005 film “Pride and Prejudice”, a Joe Wright adaption of Jane Austen’s famed novel of the same name.
- In 2019, she won Best Supporting Actress – Feature Film at the Garden State Film Festival for her role in The Last Witness.
- She started her writing career in 2016 with the novel Acts of Love. She is also the author of The Quickening.
- Talulah and ex-husband Elon Musk got married twice. They first married in 2010 and parted ways in 2012. They then tried again in 2013, only to get divorced again in 2016.
- In 2015, she was nominated for an Audience Award for her performance in the film Scottish Mussel.
- Talulah has an obsession with death after seeing a friend of hers die when she was 18 and has been unable to get over it.
- She has a checklist of things that she would like to do in movies. One of them is to get possessed and die on a deathbed with a ghostly pallor.
- As of the latest update, she is estimated to be worth a total of $25 million.
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Early life and education
Talulah Jane Riley-Milburn was born in 1985 to Una Riley and Doug Milburn. She was the only child of her parents and grew up in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England.
Her father, Doug Milburn, is a screenwriter with several notable scripts under his belt. He has written many episodes for famous television shows such as “Silent Witness”, “Prime Suspect” and “The Bill”. He was head of the National Security Squad before delving into screenwriting.
Riley’s mother, Una Riley, is also a notable personality in her field. She is the founder of two companies, a security firm and a PR company.
Riley attended the Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls and Berkhamsted Collegiate School. She then proceeded to the Cheltenham Ladies College. Additionally, she attended the Open University while already pursuing acting in London.
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Career (Talulah Riley movies and TV shows)
Talulah Riley’s career spans almost two decades. In that time, she has grown from taking small roles in TV series and films to more significant ones. BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Art) named her one of the British actors to watch out for in 2011. It can be argued that she hasn’t quite broken out of that “prospective star” status, but that takes nothing away from her achievements as an actor.
Riley’s on-screen career started at the early age of 18, in 2003. She began with a small role in the screen adaption of Agatha Christie’s work on famous detective agent “Poirot”. She also appeared in one of the episodes of the TV series “Five Little Pigs”.
Talulah got her first breakthrough in 2005 with a role in the film adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice”. She played the role of Mary Bennet, one of the sisters of the protagonist. Her display in the film caught the eyes of filmmakers and so began her upward trajectory in the industry.
In the years that followed, she appeared in minor roles in films and TV shows like “Marple”, “Friends Forever”, and “Phoo Action”. She joined the St. Trinian’s franchise in 2007, starring as Annabelle Fritton. Riley appeared in the same role in the sequel “St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold”.
In the 2007 TV series “Nearly Famous”, she played a significant role as Lila Reed. In 2009, she was the lead actress in the short film “The Summer House”. The film was critically acclaimed and got many award nominations. She has appeared in other notable works like the 2017 film “The Last Witness”, where she played the role of Jeanette Mitchell.
Aside from her film and TV appearances, Talulah Riley has also worked on stage productions in London. Her first work on stage came in 2005 in “The Philadelphia Story” at the Old Vic theatre in London. Riley also worked in the stage adaption of Tennessee Williams’ “Summer and Smoke” in 2006.
Inception
Arguably her biggest film to date is Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”, where she shared the screen with Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio. The critically acclaimed 2010 science fiction follows the story of a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. He gets the chance to have his criminal history erased as payment for the implantation of another person’s idea into a target’s subconscious. Riley appeared in a small role as a woman, credited as “Blonde”, whom Eames (Tom Hardy) disguises himself as in a dream.
Riley liked the role and explained why to Interview magazine, “I get to wear a nice dress, pick up men in bars, and shove them in elevators. It was good to do something adultish. Usually, I play 15-year-old English schoolgirls.”
