The Transformation Of Kelly Reilly From Late Teens To 45 Years Old

British actor Kelly Reilly has had an unconventional rise to fame. Starting out in TV shows in her homeland, she made a name for herself in the theater, earning plaudits for her portrayal of the title character in "After Miss Julie." However, her career-defining role wouldn't arrive for a number of years. But good things are worth waiting for, and that's something the Olivier-winning actor knows all too well.

In an industry renowned for its apparent ageism, it's rare to hear of a woman who found fame in her 30s, let alone 40s (it is, however, quite a different matter for men, of course). But Reilly was in her early 40s when she became a household name. And fighting ageism is central to her unconventional oeuvre.

Thanks to her mesmerizing turn as the ruthless Beth in "Yellowstone," which saw her working with Kevin Costner, Reilly has become a star. And she's the first to admit that she isn't too dissimilar from the uncompromising, polarizing character she embodies. As she told Vanity Fair regarding the inexorable Beth, "This is a woman who had to survive so much. How is she going to survive that by being weak-spined, by being gentle? Gentle will kill you." Indeed, it's taken a whole lot of hard work for Reilly to reach the top, all the while maintaining her integrity and taking no prisoners. This is the transformation of Kelly Reilly from late teens to 45 years old.

Born into an Irish Catholic family, Kelly Reilly was raised in Surrey, England, to a police officer father and a hospital receptionist mom, per The Telegraph. As she recalled to The Times, she was a shy loner at school, a self-described "geeky" kid with very few friends. It was drama that brought the youngster out of her shell. At 14, she fell in love with theater after her drama teachers took her to see plays such as "Angels in America" and "The Seagull," per The Independent. Two years later, she left home in pursuit of acting work, much to the disappointment of her parents.

Subsequently, in 1995, she was asked to audition for a small part in Helen Mirren's detective series "Prime Suspect." But Reilly was hesitant. "I wasn't a natural performer," she confessed to The Independent. "I was very introverted, very shy." Casting directors disagreed, however, and she got the part, playing Polly, the main murder suspect's daughter. The 17-year-old was near unrecognizable with a red micro bob, but possessing all the charm that would later make her a star. 

As an actor who wasn't trained at drama school, Reilly was acutely aware of being perceived as an outsider. "For a while every job felt like my first," she told The Scotsman. "Because I didn't go to drama school, I really was aware this wasn't a world I just easily fell into. It was something I had to keep working really hard in." 

Shortly after her "Prime Suspect" TV debut, Kelly Reilly was cast in HTV's adaptation of "Poldark," starring Ioan Gruffudd as the titular protagonist. Looking straight out of a pre-Raphaelite painting with cascading auburn curls and an impish smile, Reilly bore the English rose quality of Kate Winslet circa "Sense and Sensibility." Although Reilly was told that the made-for-TV movie would open doors for her in the industry, it was a colossal bomb, per The Telegraph. "It was really bad, wasn't it?" she reflected.

At the time, the budding young actor was unsure of herself, which manifested in her performance. Of misconceptions about people who get into acting, she said in The Guardian, "Everyone imagines that we are extroverts, wanting to show off. Actually, we are juggling our own neuroses." Following "Poldark," she appeared in bit parts in various TV shows and films.

Although Reilly was on the rise, she didn't always imagine that her life would be confined to TV sets. Her first love was actually of the equine variety. As she told The Evening Standard, she developed an affinity for horses at a young age, and caring for the animals became a refuge from school, which she loathed. The youngster would play truant so she could escape to a horse yard. "I couldn't afford a horse, but I kind of adopted one and spent a lot of time with him," she reflected. "It was an obsession – and if I hadn't discovered acting I wouldn't be here talking to you."

At the age of 23, Kelly Reilly starred in her first film, Brit romp "Maybe Baby" starring a pre-Dr. House Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson. A fresh-faced Reilly played Nimnh, an actor appearing in one of Laurie's productions. The epitome of Y2k chic, Reilly sported a wavy bob not unlike a fiery spin on The Rachel and heavy eye makeup; with Nimnh, she paid homage to her familial roots by adopting a thick Irish accent for the role.

Though half a decade had passed since her first role, on "Prime Suspect," Reilly was still being relegated to bit parts. But she was propelled to continue, largely due to some sagacious advice that her erstwhile co-star Helen Mirren had previously bestowed. "I asked her if I should go to drama school ... and she said: 'Bad idea — in fact, it's probably the worst thing you could do,'" Reilly recalled in an interview with the Daily Mail. "Helen reckons that to be an actor you have to experience life, rather than disappear inside a drama school for three years. So I took her advice and carried on acting."

So, Reilly kept at it and in a twist of fate, was cast as the younger version of Mirren's character in the 2001 drama film "Last Orders," also starring acting giants Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins. There, she met her boyfriend, fellow actor JJ Field, and the pair moved to an apartment in South London, per The Evening Standard.

In 2003, Kelly Reilly showcased her acting chops on the stage. She appeared alongside Minnie Driver, Hank Azaria, and Matthew Perry in "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," and then took on the title character in Patrick Marber's play "After Miss Julie." Per The Telegraph, Reilly plays the daughter of an upper-class socialist who is celebrating the Labour Party's historic landslide victory in 1945. Despite the socialist sympathies of Miss Julie's family, the household nonetheless employs servants and a chauffeur, with Julie embarking on a dalliance with the latter. As a working-class actor, Reilly admitted to The Evening Standard that she had difficulty empathizing with the upper-class character she portrayed.

Critics failed to see the discrepancies in Reilly's own background and that of Miss Julie, however, with her authentic performance earning her an Olivier Award, making her the youngest recipient of the esteemed accolade, per The Telegraph. At a theater event that year, Reilly channeled old school Hollywood glam, resembling the classic beauty of Tinseltown bombshells such as Rita Hayworth with her 1950s style curls and silky LBD. 

As Reilly told The Times, performing on stage made her far more anxious than appearing in films. "Opening nights can be terrifying. It's not like doing a film, there's a different kind of adrenaline," she said. 

By 2004, Kelly Reilly was acting alongside icons from across the pond. She was cast in the historical drama "The Libertine," starring Johnny Depp. The role came as a surprise for her, considering her anxious aversion to Tinseltown. "When I was younger, I was terrified [of Los Angeles]," she told The Telegraph. In "The Libertine," the young actor locked lips with Depp and she found herself giddy as a schoolgirl. "I was completely unprofessional," she confessed. "I was texting my friends going, 'You're not going to believe what I'm doing.' All these women were there, giving me the thumbs-up. ... [T]here we were, all these professional people... and we weren't being professional at all."

As The Times noted, despite appearing alongside the likes of Depp and Keira Knightley (in a small role in "Pride and Prejudice"), Reilly remained a complete unknown. The outlet points out that, when several people were shown a photo of the actor, no one recognized her. But that's something Reilly was more than happy to live with. 

"I don't think I would ever do a big, glitzy film just to be in a big, glitzy film," she said. "I still have to love the film and feel good about the script." Be that as it may, Reilly nevertheless showcased her immense star power on the red carpet. Opting for bold red lippy, a fur shawl, and emerald green dress, the starlet sparkled at the Laurence Olivier Awards that year.

In 2005, Kelly Reilly scored her breakthrough role in British dramedy "Mrs Henderson Presents." The film's veteran director, Stephen Frears, was eager to cast Reilly, whom he described as "a complete natural," per The Telegraph. Appearing at the film's premiere, she debuted her new image: her signature ginger locks were replaced by sleek, dark tresses and she traded in her porcelain complexion for a sun-kissed look.

Starring alongside the legendary likes of Judi Dench, Reilly admitted to being awestruck, though she tried her best not to come across as a fangirl in front of the esteemed Dame. "I was nervous ... I stayed away from her for quite a while because I didn't want to be gushing or say anything stupid," she told Empire (via KellyReilly.org). "So she probably thought that I was a bit rude and cold."

The film is based on the true story of Laura Henderson (played by Dench), founder of London's The Windmill Theater, which was infamous for its stage shows featuring naked women. Reilly plays Maureen, one of the performers, a role that required nude scenes. Despite appearing in such scenes, Reilly said that she was sick of being reduced to the sum of her parts thereafter. "I don't think I'm someone who chases that sort of attention at all. I'm not a show-off, I'm not an exhibitionist," she told The Guardian. "I've done nudity because it's in the film or the play but I don't search it out."

In 2008, Kelly Reilly went back to her flowing Titian hair following her experimentation with a brunette barnet, and also embraced her natural skin tone again. Eschewing heavy makeup, she appeared at that year's BAFTAs with nude lippy and peachy blush. The tail end of the aughts also saw her return to U.K. television when she was cast in the drama "He Kills Coppers." A decidedly British affair as the title suggests, Reilly plays a sex worker who begins an affair with a crooked cop, a role for which she received critical acclaim, per the Daily Mail.

Reilly's co-star and friend Rafe Spall, with whom she had previously collabed on stage, praised her ability to relinquish vanity for her art in an interview with The Independent. "Kelly's not vain, even though she's lovely-looking – she was happy to 'old up' in He Kills Coppers," Spall said, "and I think that's harder for a woman than a man."

As the daughter of a police officer, the story of a man killing cops was close to Reilly's heart. In a later interview with The Guardian, she said that she was unhappy with anti-police sentiment following the 2011 London riots, the catalyst for which was the killing of Mark Duggan, a Black man who surrendered to police. "You hear that people hate the police, like during the recent student protests," she said, "and I think: 'Well, they're doing their job and they have kids' ... I'm all for a good protest though."

Now in her early 30s, Kelly Reilly was more comfortable within herself than she'd ever been. Debuting her auburn pin-straight locks and sideswept bangs, she appeared to conduct herself with a newfound confidence. Speaking with The Guardian, she admitted that she was more than fine with being done with her 20s. "Women do well in their thirties," she enthused. "They put their bags down and say, this is who I am – like it or lump it."

2009 would prove a successful year for the actor: She was cast in British crime series "Above Suspicion." In an intriguing twist of fate, the series was based on the novels by Lynda La Plante, who also penned "Prime Suspect." The author said she couldn't imagine anyone other than Reilly in the role of Detective Anna Travis. "My first meeting with Kelly for the role of Anna Travis made me very excited," La Plante told The Scotsman. "She was the right age, a natural redhead, like the character, and her father is an ex-police officer ... She is a star."

Reilly quipped to the Daily Mail that she was starting to grow accustomed to the gory aspects of the role, which required the detective to examine maggot-filled corpses (while the corpses were fake, the maggots were not, much to Reilly's chagrin). Despite the quintessential Britishness of the series, it proved a huge success across the pond, per Tribeca Film. "It's amazing how big it is in America," the actor remarked. "I had no idea!"

In 2009, Kelly Reilly was cast as Mary Morstan in Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" adaptation, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the eponymous detective, and reprised her role in the 2011 sequel. At the premiere for the latter film, she exhibited 1970s style curls and a bronzed complexion in a slinky blue dress.

For Reilly, it was important that she highlighted the feminist parable of Mary, who longed to be part of the workforce as opposed to being confined to the duties of a housewife. "I can't imagine what it must have been like in those days, when you just had to wait for the husband to come home," she told The Scotsman. However, she also admitted that "Sherlock Holmes" was, ultimately, a boys' club, the female characters reduced to background players. "It is a boys' film. The two women's roles are not exactly ones you would break your heart over trying to get," she confessed to The Independent.

At this point, Reilly found her personal life under scrutiny — perhaps for the first time ever in her career. The actor was dogged by rumors that she was dating Ritchie, claims that turned out to be false. "Before you knew it there were press on my parents' doorstep going, 'So, I hear that Kelly's the reason for the divorce,'" she recalled to The Telegraph in reference to Ritchie's split from Madonna. "I mean... [Ritchie] is a nice guy but we hadn't even had a cup of tea together."

Having entered her mid 30s in 2012, Kelly Reilly wasn't trying to pretend otherwise. "I love actresses who embrace aging, like Robin Wright Penn; she hasn't had anything done," she told The Guardian. "You can see the laughter lines ... when I see her playing a character I believe in her, unlike an actress who can't move her face." Indeed, Reilly was a natural beauty at red carpet events, sporting a chic bob with 1960s-esque bangs and wearing smoky eyeshadow at the "Flight" premiere.

Per The Independent, Reilly met her beau Kyle Baugher when she was in the U.S. filming the film "Flight." However, she remains elusive when discussing him; she said in The Guardian that Baugher isn't an actor, but would not divulge more than that. The couple wed in 2012 and Reilly relocated to New York, a change of scenery that was overwhelming at first. "England is always home, but I have made my life here. I suffered terrible homesickness at first – for English people, pubs, humor ... but I love New York," she told The Telegraph, noting that she'd also briefly lived in Los Angeles, a city that she swiftly realized did not align with her sensibilities.

In "Flight," Reilly acted alongside Oscar-winner Denzel Washington. She received acclaim for her portrayal of Nicole, a woman struggling with substance misuse, with The New York Times describing her performance as "lyrically melancholic." Speaking with Women and Hollywood, Reilly emphasized the importance of eschewing stereotypical depictions when playing Nicole.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

In 2014, Kelly Reilly was cast in ABC's psychological drama "Black Box," playing a neurologist with bipolar disorder, per The Hollywood Reporter. Speaking with Broadway World, Reilly said that she identified with the character. "I believe that we all have many different sides to ourselves; me, Kelly, the actress at work; me, Kelly, the wife at home; or me, the daughter," she reflected.

Although she had been cast as the lead of a TV show for the first time in her career, Reilly remained the reluctant star. At the time, she admitted that she was totally disinterested in attending glitzy galas or being snapped at the front row of fashion shows. "Nothing brings me out in more of a cold sweat than a premiere," she told The Telegraph. "I was invited to New York fashion week – no way. I have zero fascination with that world and feel incredibly awkward in it, I just can't do the schmooze."

Instead, she appeared at low-key gatherings, showcasing her newly dyed strawberry blond hair and looking more like a girl boss than an actor in chic, monochrome ensembles. Reilly confessed that she probably would have been far more successful in her acting career if she were happy to appease industry execs, but she was adamant that her artistic integrity comes first. "In an industry that's all about pretending, you've got to be truthful to who you are," she added.

A stint on a long-running TV series wasn't always on Kelly Reilly's agenda. Back in 2009, she told The Scotsman that she understood the appeal of Brit actors working on TV across the pond, noting the lucrative nature of such gigs, but claimed it wasn't quite for her. In time, however, a role on U.S. television would be exactly what Reilly needed to cement her A-list status.

In 2018, a 41-year-old Reilly snagged a career-changing role when she made her debut as the hardboiled, tough oil exec Beth Dutton in Western drama "Yellowstone." Playing the daughter of Kevin Costner's ruthlessly ambitious patriarch, John, Reilly relished the unique part. "I certainly hadn't seen this sort of character on TV," she told The Independent. "I find her more in plays, these enormous women like Medea or Lady Macbeth. ... There was something huge about her and powerful and terrifying." At the show's premiere, she showcased her incredible transformation, her beloved bob replaced by long, flowing blond locks and, in line with her newfound status as a Hollywood star, a heavily sunkissed complexion.

After years of supporting roles and stints on British TV, Reilly had finally made it, propelled to stardom and, in turn, garnering household name status. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she admitted that playing Beth was a cathartic experience: "I get energized playing her. She gives me a lot of strength, a lot of backbone that I didn't know that I necessarily had."

By 2019, Kelly Reilly looked every bit the old-school Hollywood siren, wearing a 1950s style polka dot dress at a "Yellowstone" Season 2 event. But the red carpet glitz and glam wasn't quite to her liking, with the actor feeling uncomfortable having to dress up for the media circuit. "I only get nervous because I never know what to wear," she once told The Independent. "And I'd rather be comfortable. So I always end up taking my shoes off as soon as I get to the party as I can't walk in heels."

True to her rejection of idealized Hollywood standards, she took on some left-field and decidedly un-glamorous roles. Accordingly, Reilly became a scream queen for a time. She was cast in the horror flick "Eli," playing the woman who gave birth to the spawn of Satan himself. Although the film received poor reviews, Reilly soon starred in the acclaimed gothic horror film "The Cursed."

Originally titled "Eight For Silver," Reilly depicts a mother desperate to protect her children from bloodthirsty supernatural forces in early 20th century France. The character was unlike anyone she had played before, which made her all the more eager to take on the role. "I loved the opportunity of playing with a different set of tones," she told Daily Dead. "And the themes of the archetype of the mother was something that I hadn't explored before, especially in this period where this real constraint feels strange."

The new decade has seen Kelly Reilly win praise and plaudits from her peers. She dabbled in work overseas, appearing in Amanda Sthers' French romance flick "Promises" in 2021, per Variety. The director praised the star power of Reilly and onscreen love interest Pierfrancesco Favino. "Together, Favino and Reilly look like a quintessential cinematic couple bringing a sense of timelessness to our story," Sthers declared.

The actor has certainly come a long way since the days of scrambling for bit parts and supporting roles, now finding herself among the showbiz elite. In 2022, Reilly was nominated for awards at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and MTV Movie and TV Awards for her performance in "Yellowstone," though she lost out to "Succession" and Zendaya for "Euphoria" respectively.

Now in her mid 40s, Reilly has hardly aged a day since she first graced the small screen on "Prime Suspect." Embracing life as a blond, Reilly still has the enviable cheek bones and charming smile that first propelled her towards the A-list. And as she grows older, she welcomes aging as a gift. "Our world is so ageist," she told The Telegraph. "I remember when I was 27, being told, 'Don't ever tell anyone you're older than 23'. But there's a richness and sensuality that age brings to your work; you're considered more of a heavyweight. I'm a dinosaur and I welcome it. Bring it on."