Kelly Reilly – 5 Lesser Known Facts About The English Actress

Quick Facts

Kelly Reilly is an award-winning British actress who became wildly popular to London audiences after her awe-inspiring performance in the Donmar Warehouse stage project, After Miss Julie. For this role, she earned a nomination for 2003’s Laurence Oliver Award. Some might recognize her from Sherlock Holmes, in which she portrayed Mary Watson. The accomplished actress’ career has encompassed both stage and screen, and her impeccable talent has shone brilliantly in both.

Who Is Kelly Reilly?

Born Jessica Kelly Siobhán Reilly in Chessington, England on July 18, 1977, to working-class parents, Kelly was raised Catholic and she attended Tolworth Girls School. It is known that her father was a police officer whereas her mom worked as a receptionist in a hospital.

Even though she was too shy to admit that she has been in love with acting since she was a kid and wanted to pursue a career in it, she studied drama for GSCE in high school. However, because of her lack of interest in growing up like all good Catholic girls, she rebelled and left home at 16. She worked as a waitress while scouting for acting gigs.

Unlike most aspiring actors, Kelly did not go through the usual path of taking drama classes or going to drama school, she simply dived head first into the business and picked up the tricks of the trade on-the-go. She attended auditions and wrote to producers of television series asking for work. She got her first professional role on Prime Suspect this way.

More work began to pour in this way including an appearance in the movie Last Orders. Kelly Reilly diversified her resume and slipped into the English theatre scene, working in productions of The London Cuckolds, Piano/Forte, Elton John’s Glasses, and The Graduate.

Kelly has always had a take-charge attitude when it comes to her career. When she felt she had been increasingly typecast as a funny character in comedic roles, she worked to rectify that by seeking out serious roles. This led to her being featured in Blasted, a Royal Court rendition of Sarah Kane’s play. Her performance earned her the infamous compliment “theatrical Viagra” from the critics at The Times.

Eden Lake, a 2008 horror flick marked Kelly’s first lead starring role, followed by other major appearances in high-end productions like Above Suspicion, Sherlock Holmes, Triage, Heaven is for Real, Black Box, and Flight.

Kelly Reilly made her first Broadway appearance in 2015. She has won several awards and garnered nominations for her exceptional acting prowess, including the Cannes Film Festival Award, Empire Award, British Independent Film Awards, and Hollywood Film Festival Awards.

Her Net Worth

The picture-perfect actress has made a name for herself in the industry, and a bold statement in the bank. She is estimated to have a current net worth of 5 million dollars.

Boyfriend or Husband, Is She Married or Dating?

Kelly’s personal life is not as dramatic as her professional career. She has not been in a lot of romantic relationships. For a brief period between 2001 and 2002, she went out with JJ Field. She once dated and was previously engaged to actor Jonah Lotan, but they called off their engagement and parted ways.

Kelly married Kyle Baugher, an American financier in 2012 after the two had been secretly dating and denying their relationship for months. The pair has no kids yet, but remain happily married and scandal-free.

5 Lesser Known Facts About The English Actress

1. Kelly Reilly is the youngest person in the history of the Laurence Olivier Award to ever be nominated. She was only 26 years old at the time and was nominated again six years later.

2. Unlike other celebrities who are consumed by their physical appearance, Kelly prefers to age the natural way — with grace. She likes to wear her age the way it is, without surgeries or tons of routines to make her look younger. Her motto is like it or lump it.

3. She does not like to appear on cover pages or get interviewed about where she likes to shop. All she is interested in doing is acting, everything else is unnecessary and a waste of time to her.

4. The scenes she hates shooting the most are eating scenes because it involves too many repetitions and setups.

5. At the beginning of her career, after getting a role, she would text the directors to say that they had made a mistake, that she wasn’t good enough for the role.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.