Who Is Tom Hardy's Wife, Charlotte Riley?
Charlotte Bronte's Wuthering Heights is arguably one of the greatest love stories ever told. The story even laid the foundation for another, more modern love story: The one between actor Tom Hardy and his now-wife, fellow actor Charlotte Riley. The pair met in 2009 while starring as lovers Cathy and Heathcliff in the two-part BBC television adaptation of the classic novel. That same year, Hardy and Riley went on to co-star in the crime drama series The Take, and they got engaged the following year.
The couple got married on July 4, 2014, in a hush-hush ceremony at the Chateau de Roussan in the south of France. They now have two children together: Leo, born 2015, and Forrest, born 2018. Riley is also stepmother to Louis, Hardy's son from a previous relationship. The family lives in west London with their French bulldog, Blue, per You magazine. Beyond their 2009 projects, Hardy and Riley have co-starred in Peaky Blinders, London Has Fallen, and Trust. In 2014, Us Weekly asked Hardy what he loved most about Riley. "Aw, she's pure," the actor replied. "She's just a very kind, pure person."
Curious to find out more? Here's what else we know about Riley.
Charlotte Riley craves 'stability' above all else
When asked to describe herself during a 2018 interview with You magazine, Charlotte Riley replied, "How do you do that?! I don't know, it changes minute by minute." but what we do know about Riley is that she was born in County Durham, England, in 1981. She stayed close to home while studying English and Linguistics at Durham University and performing with the sketch comedy group the Durham Revue, per The Telegraph. In 2004, a year after her graduation, she won the Sunday Times' Playwriting Award for Shaking Cecilia. She then went on to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art from 2005 to 2007, followed by the Parisian clown school Ecole Phillipe Gaulier.
Beyond her collaborations with her husband, Tom Hardy, Riley has starred in movies including Edge of Tomorrow and In the Heart of the Sea. She auditioned for the role of Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, in which Hardy plays the masked villain Bane, but Anne Hathaway was cast instead. It was probably for the best: "I'm useless when it comes to superhero things," Riley told You.
According to You, Riley's home life with Hardy involves eating Indian takeout, watching documentaries, and boogie-ing to AC/DC with their kids. "What's important for me is stability – that's what I aim for in terms of my friends, my family and my children," Riley told the outlet. "The best you can hope for is to create a warm, loving, safe and consistent environment."