---
name: "Sam Riley"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sam-riley"
fi1m_id: "sam-riley"
imdb_id: "nm0727165"
tmdb_id: 32987
wikidata_id: "Q520001"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "8 January 1980"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 60
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-12T20:04:08.082666+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Sam Riley

## Identity

Sam Riley

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sam-riley
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** sam-riley
- **IMDb ID:** nm0727165
- **TMDB ID:** 32987
- **Wikidata ID:** Q520001
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Riley, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q520001, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0727165/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/32987

Actor. Born 8 January 1980 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 8 January 1980, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK
- **Active:** 2007–present
- **Also known as:** Samuel Peter W. Riley
- **Frequently works with:** [Angelina Jolie](https://film.one/person/angelina-jolie.md), [Elle Fanning](https://film.one/person/elle-fanning.md), [Joe Roth](https://film.one/person/joe-roth.md), [Lily James](https://film.one/person/lily-james.md), [Linda Woolverton](https://film.one/person/linda-woolverton.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 60, as actor, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 80 (1), 2010s 50 (2), 2020s 58 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 60 to 59 across 5 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 3 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 5 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Adventure 2, Family 2, Fantasy 2, Romance 2, Thriller 2
- **Screen time:** 10 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,258m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Riley, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q520001, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0727165/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/32987

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Maleficent*](https://film.one/film/maleficent.md) (55), [*Maleficent: Mistress of Evil*](https://film.one/film/maleficent-mistress-of-evil.md) (46)
- **Tubi:** [*Control*](https://film.one/film/control.md) (80)
- **Netflix:** [*Rebecca*](https://film.one/film/rebecca-2020.md) (49)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Sam Riley

> Sam Riley makes both the forceful singer and the uncertain young man believable in *Control*. We rate his ability to move between them without fuss, though his recurring brooding roles risk making him seem less interesting than he is.

In *Control* (2007), Sam Riley's Ian Curtis can hold our attention at a microphone and then struggle with an ordinary conversation. The change is small enough that we never feel the actor explaining the man. We were moved by how little the assurance of his singing seemed to help him once he stopped. Riley gives the concert scenes physical force, but he also lets Curtis be uncertain without making uncertainty his only trait. That keeps him worth watching through passages where a less attentive performance might leave us waiting for another song.

The part launched his acting career, and his experience as frontman of Leeds band 10,000 Things gave him a practical connection to performing music. Pinkie Brown in *Brighton Rock* (2010) and Sal Paradise in *On the Road* (2012) took him towards literary adaptations. He also took supporting work as Diaval in *Maleficent* (2014). His Fitzwilliam Darcy in *Pride and Prejudice and Zombies* (2016) belongs to that move into genre work. Yet the recurring invitation to play brooding men suggests a casting habit worth resisting.

Anton Corbijn gives him more to do in *Control* than sustain a solemn expression. The dry humour matters, as does the space Riley shares with Samantha Morton: both are allowed to make life away from the concerts worth our attention. Corbijn's patience helps us watch Riley's changes, although some domestic scenes carry on after we have understood the difficulty. We wanted a firmer cut there, not a more demonstrative leading performance. Riley has already done enough to make us care.

We would welcome more parts that leave room for the dry humour Corbijn allows. The concern is not that Riley keeps playing introspective men; it is that filmmakers might treat a solemn look as sufficient characterisation. *Control* gives him people to respond to and work to perform, and he makes both count. Start there, provided a music biography with this much time between songs sounds like an evening well spent.

## Biography

Sam Riley is an English actor and singer. Born on 8 January 1980 in West Yorkshire, he trained with the National Youth Theatre before pursuing music as the frontman of the Leeds band 10,000 Things.

Riley's breakthrough came playing Ian Curtis in the 2007 biographical film *Control*, directed by Anton Corbijn. His performance earned the British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer and the Kermode Award for Best Actor. He later appeared in films including *Brighton Rock* (2010) as Pinkie Brown, *On the Road* (2012), *Maleficent* (2014) as Diaval, *Pride and Prejudice and Zombies* (2016) as Fitzwilliam Darcy, and *Free Fire* (2017).

He met actress Alexandra Maria Lara while filming *Control*; they married in 2009 and have one son.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Islands* (2025), Fi1m 68, as Tom — [page](https://film.one/film/islands.md)
- *Rebecca* (2020), Fi1m 49, as Jack Favell — [page](https://film.one/film/rebecca-2020.md)
- *Maleficent: Mistress of Evil* (2019), Fi1m 46, as Diaval — [page](https://film.one/film/maleficent-mistress-of-evil.md)
- *Maleficent* (2014), Fi1m 55, as Diaval — [page](https://film.one/film/maleficent.md)
- *Control* (2007), Fi1m 80, as Ian Curtis — [page](https://film.one/film/control.md)

## Complete filmography (33)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Mint* (2026), series, as Dylan
- *Bulk* (2026), as Corey Harlan
- *Cezanne on Art* (2026), as Joachim Gasquet
- *Islands* (2025), as Tom — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/islands.md)
- *John Cranko* (2024), as John Cranko
- *Widow Clicquot* (2024), as Louis Bohne
- *Firebrand* (2024), as Thomas Seymour
- *She Is Love* (2023), as Idris
- *Alfons Jitterbit – Class Trip Chaos!* (2022), as Jack
- *The Vault* (2021), as James
- *Rebecca* (2020), as Jack Favell — Fi1m 49, [page](https://film.one/film/rebecca-2020.md)
- *Radioactive* (2020), as Pierre Curie
- *Maleficent: Mistress of Evil* (2019), as Diaval — Fi1m 46, [page](https://film.one/film/maleficent-mistress-of-evil.md)
- *The Naked King - 18 Fragments on Revolution* (2019), as Narrator English (voice)
- *Sometimes Always Never* (2019), as Peter
- *Happy New Year, Colin Burstead* (2018), as David Burstead
- *Free Fire* (2017), as Stevo
- *SS-GB* (2017), series, as Douglas Archer
- *Robby and Toby's Fantastic Voyager* (2016), as Brad Blutbad
- *Pride and Prejudice and Zombies* (2016), as Fitzwilliam Darcy
- *Suite Française* (2015), as Benoit Labarie
- *Maleficent* (2014), as Diaval — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/film/maleficent.md)
- *The Dark Valley* (2014), as Greider
- *Byzantium* (2013), as Darvell
- *On the Road* (2012), as Sal Paradise / Jack Kerouac
- *Woman in Love* (2011), as Wagenmeister
- *Brighton Rock* (2010), as Pinkie
- *13* (2010), as Vince
- *Franklyn* (2008), as Milo
- *Control* (2007), as Ian Curtis — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/control.md)
- *Lenny Blue* (2002), series, as James Milton
- *Tough Love* (2000), as James Milton
- *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), series, as Eric Bruney

## Gallery

- ![Sam Riley](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-aa1f9cdc1365.jpg) Sam Riley — Manfred Werner - Tsui, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Sam_Riley_Das_finstere_Tal_Wien_2014_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Ben Wheatley and the cast of Free Fire (inc. Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley) (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-69a397ca4319.jpg) Ben Wheatley and the cast of Free Fire (inc. Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley) (2016) — Bex Walton from London, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Ben_Wheatley_and_the_cast_of_Free_Fire_%28inc._Armie_Hammer%2C_Cillian_Murphy%2C_Sam_Riley%2C_Sharlto_Copley%29_%2829741498254%29.jpg/1280px-Ben_Wheatley_and_the_cast_of_Free_Fire_%28inc._Armie_Hammer%2C_Cillian_Murphy%2C_Sam_Riley%2C_Sharlto_Copley%29_%2829741498254%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Free Fire cast at the BFI LFF gala (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-92f43927455c.jpg) Free Fire cast at the BFI LFF gala (2016) — Bex Walton from London, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Free_Fire_cast_at_the_BFI_LFF_gala_%2830285689921%29.jpg/1280px-Free_Fire_cast_at_the_BFI_LFF_gala_%2830285689921%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Alexandra Maria Lara and Sam Riley at Berlinale 2020](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-b01135f3b8f3.jpg) Alexandra Maria Lara and Sam Riley at Berlinale 2020 — Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/MJK_68021_Alexandra_Maria_Lara_und_Sam_Riley_%28Berlinale_2020%29.jpg/1280px-MJK_68021_Alexandra_Maria_Lara_und_Sam_Riley_%28Berlinale_2020%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Sam Riley](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-65fd355aed8a.jpg) Sam Riley — Image via TMDB
- ![Sam Riley](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-4da102bfc783.jpg) Sam Riley — Image via TMDB
- ![Sam Riley](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-d57db4c899bd.jpg) Sam Riley — Image via TMDB
- ![Sam Riley at the 21st Berlinale reception in the North Rhine-Westphalian state representation, Berlinale 2024](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-7667582d6afb.jpg) Sam Riley at the 21st Berlinale reception in the North Rhine-Westphalian state representation, Berlinale 2024 — Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/MKr350531_Sam_Riley_%28NRW-Empfang%2C_Berlinale_2024%29.jpg/1280px-MKr350531_Sam_Riley_%28NRW-Empfang%2C_Berlinale_2024%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Michael Smiley and Sam Riley at the premiere of Free Fire, 2016 Toronto Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-90ca3934300d.jpg) Michael Smiley and Sam Riley at the premiere of Free Fire, 2016 Toronto Film Festival — GabboT, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Michael_Smiley_and_Sam_Riley_2016_%2829485354800%29.jpg/1280px-Michael_Smiley_and_Sam_Riley_2016_%2829485354800%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Sam Riley](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-9e74de3ab3af.jpg) Sam Riley — Image via TMDB
- ![Sam Riley](https://film.one/media/person/99821/gallery-e726536d517c.jpg) Sam Riley — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sam-riley