Television Riley's television credits include episodes of
Poirot (2003),
Marple (2006), and
Doctor Who (2008's "
Silence in the Library" and "
Forest of the Dead"). She played Lila, a lovestruck writer, in the short-lived
E4 series
Nearly Famous (2007). She played Angela in the first two seasons of the television series
Westworld.
Stage Riley made her stage debut in
The Philadelphia Story at the
Old Vic in 2005. Her performance in a 2006 revival of
Tennessee Williams'
Summer and Smoke was described by critic Rachel Read as "delightful".
Film Riley played Mary Bennet in the 2005 version of
Pride and Prejudice and Marianne in 2009's
The Boat That Rocked. She starred in the 2007 film ''
St Trinian's and its 2009 sequel St Trinian's: The Legend of Fritton's Gold''. Riley appeared as a disguise used by
Tom Hardy's character in
Inception (2010). Also in 2010,
Love and Distrust was released direct-to-video, featuring five unique short films, the first of which was
The Summer House, in which Riley was co-lead, opposite
Robert Pattinson. Available as a standalone download,
The Summer House was the number one film on
iTunes worldwide on its first day of release, holding that position for several days. She also appeared in
White Frog. Between 2009 and 2015, Riley developed an idea and story by her father into a screenplay, then ultimately directed (after being unable to hire another director to helm the project) and starred in the resulting feature film
Scottish Mussel.
Writing Her debut novel,
Acts of Love, was published by
Hodder & Stoughton in August 2016. In June 2022, Riley released her second novel,
The Quickening, also published by Hodder & Stoughton. She is also listed as a contributor to
Encounters with Jane Austen: Celebrating 250 years. Other She was featured on the March 2010 cover of
Esquire. In 2011, she was named a "Brit to Watch" by the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts. ==Personal life==