Sam Riley was born in Yorkshire, England. He attended boarding school in Rutland where he explored acting. Due to an emotional breakdown, he shifted his focus to music for a while and served as a lead singer with his brother in the band 10,000 Things. He got his big break through his performance in Control (2007), a biopic based on the life of the lead singer of Joy Division. Riley played the lead role, marking his debut in a feature film, and was highly praised for the same. The role even bagged him the British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer, among several other accolades. Over the years he has worked alongside actors such as Helen Mirren in Brighton Rock (2010) and Angelina Jolie in Maleficent (2014). He later took up the role of the famous literary figure Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016). His 2019 releases include Radioactive and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.