Best known for portraying the roles of 'Sarah Hurst' in British romantic comedy film, Easy Virtue and 'Catherine Earnshaw' in the ITV TV series Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Louise Riley is a TV and film actress from England. Born and raised in Grindon, Durham, she attended St Cuthbert's Durham University from 2000-03 where she performed with the sketch comedy group called The Durham Revue. A graduation degree holder in English and Linguists, she also went to the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art from 2005-07.

Riley started acting in the TV industry and made her debut on the small screen with a small role in the BBC sitcom Grownups (2007). She later appeared in series' like Holby City (2007), Inspector George Gently (2008) and a short film titled Survey No. 257 (2008), before making her debut on the silver screen with Easy Virtue (2008). Following her debut in the mainstream cinema, Riley continued to work primarily in the TV industry and she won wide appreciation for her role as 'Caris' in World Without End (2012). Her brilliant performance in the series won her a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress on Television.

A notable personality in the English TV and theatre industry, Riley rose to fame in 2014 when she won the Sunday Times' Playwright Award for co-writing Shaking Cecilia, which she wrote with Tiffany Wood. Her work in the theatre industry is not limited to writing; she also appeared on stage at the Royal Court Theatre production, The Priory.

A successful TV and stage actress and writer, Riley also has enjoyed decent success in films. Some of her notable ventures include Edge of Tomorrow (2014), In the Heart of the Sea (2015), London Has Fallen (2016), Close to the Enemy (2016) and the TV film King Charles III (2017).