Who is Riley Stearns?
American moviemaker Riley Stearns was born in Austin, Texas USA, on 29 June 1986, under the zodiac sign of Cancer. He’s written nine, produced four and directed seven TV series and movies, while he’s perhaps best known for having written and directed the 2022 science fiction thriller movie “Dual”; it starred Karen Gillian, Aaron Paul and Beulah Koale, and follows a woman who’s had herself cloned, while she now wants the clone decommissioned, which has led to a court trial. The film was nominated for four awards.
Early life and education
Riley’s parents raised him in Austin, but as the popular moviemaker hasn’t shared a lot about his family with the public, it remains unknown what his parents are/were doing for a living, and if he has any brothers or sisters.
He became interested in making movies while attending a local high school in Pflugerville, Texas where he and his family lived; Riley was a member of his school’s drama club, while his favorite class was creative writing. He shot his first short films during his teenage years, on a camera which his father had bought him, but none of these have been released by Riley.
He enrolled at the University of Texas, Austin upon matriculating in 2004, and applied to attend its movie program, however, after having been rejected, Riley quit college and began working on his career; he also wanted to become a professional musician, but was convinced to focus on moviemaking by famous American film writer, producer and director James Wong, who’s probably known best for having directed the 2006 horror movie “Final Destination 3”.
Riley’s career
Riley launched his career in 2008, when he wrote the episode “Surveillance” of the drama series “My Own Worst Enemy: Conspiracy Theory”. In 2010, he co-wrote all 13 episodes of the popular fantasy mystery series “Tower Prep”, created by Paul Dini, and which starred Drew Van Acker, Ryan Pinkston and Elise Gatien. It follows rebellious teenager Ian who’s just been suspended from high school, while he’s now awoken at a strange preparatory school, without knowing how he got there; the series won one of its three award nominations.
In 2011, he wrote, produced and directed the short horror movie “Magnificat”; it starred Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Stephen Tobolowsky and Kristen Cloke, and follows a woman who’s being haunted by strange visions.
Riley then wrote, produced and directed the 2012 short comedy movie “Casque”, and the 2013 short comedy film “The Cub”, both of which received mixed reviews.
The year 2013 also saw him write and direct the popular mystery thriller movie “Faults”; it starred Leland Orser, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Chris Ellis, and follows a ‘cult deprogrammer’ who’s begun working for a husband and wife who want their daughter to stop following a strange cult. The film was nominated for six awards.
Riley wrote and directed the 2019 action crime comedy movie “The Art of Self-Defense”, which was nominated for five awards, and most recently (with the exception of the 2022 “Dual”), in 2020, he wrote and directed the short comedy film “The Blanket”.
Other credits
Riley received special thanks for the 2017 short horror comedy movie “Lemon Drink”, the 2021 romantic crime comedy film “Happily” and the 2021 mystery thriller movie “The Voyeurs”.
He’s been featured in the talk-shows “Reel Junkie” and “Front Row Flynn”, as well as in the podcast “Courageous Nerd”.
Awards and nominations
Riley’s been nominated for 11 awards, including a 2014 AFI Fest Award for Independents and 2014 BloodGuts UK Horror Award for Best Screenplay, both for “Faults”, and two Americana Film Set Fest Awards for “Faults” (2014) and “The Art of Self-Defense” (2020).
Love life and former wife Mary
Riley met famous American actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 2002, when they were on a cruise; they were in a relationship for eight years prior to marrying on 9 October 2010, in a large ceremony attended by more than 300 people.
In the first half of 2017, Mary was seen going out on a date with Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, who was at that time still married to Eve Mavrakis. The two of them dating was a shock to both Riley and Eve, as neither had begun divorcing their other halves; Riley revealed on 14 May of the same year that he and Mary were divorcing, while he still called her the ‘love of his life’, claiming that he will love her for the rest of his life.
Riley hasn’t spoken of any women whom he might have been with since his and Mary’s divorce; he seems to be unattached as of September 2022, was once married to Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and doesn’t have children.
Hobbies and interesting facts
Riley’s been practicing various martial arts since a very early age, and today has a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; he competed in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s 2018 World Master Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Riley enjoys being active on social media networks, and is today followed by more than 12,000 people; there are more than 2,000 pictures uploaded onto his account, most of which serve to promote his movies.
Some of the hobbies which he’s most passionate about include hiking, camping and photography.
Riley’s a lover of nature, and prefers spending his time off somewhere high up in the mountains rather than at the beach.
His favorite actresses are Meryl Streep, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway, and his favorite films “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”, and “One Day”.
Height, age and net worth
Riley’s age is 36; his hair and eyes are brown, his height’s 5ft 9ins (1.75m) and weighs about 155lbs (71kgs).
Riley’s net worth’s been estimated at more than $1.5 million, as of September 2022.
Who is his former wife Mary?
Famous American actress and musician Mary Elizabeth Winstead, was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina USA, on 28 November 1984, under the zodiac sign of Sagittarius. She has close to 60 roles to her name, while she’s probably known best for her portrayal of Michelle in the hit 2016 mystery horror movie “10 Cloverfield Lane”, directed by Dan Trachtenberg, and in which she starred alongside John Goodman and John Gallagher Jr. It follows a man who’s imprisoned a girl in an underground bunker, believing that a horrible event’s left Earth uninhabitable; the film won 16 of its 64 award nominations.
Mary’s father James Ronald Winstead and mother Betty Lou (nee Knight) raised her in Rocky Mount alongside her four older siblings; the Winsteads moved to Sandy, Utah when Mary was five. She studied at Peruvian Park Elementary and fell in love with dancing during her eight years there, becoming passionate about ballet, but eventually quit because of her tall stature.
She then turned to acting, and was 12 when she made her debut TV series appearance, playing Kristy Cordis in the 1997 episode “A Delicate Balance” of the family fantasy series “Touched by an Angel”. Mary had already become popular by the year 2001, having played Jessica Bennett in 89 episodes of the drama series “Passions” in 1999 and 2000. It was created by James E. Reilly, starred McKenzie Westmore, Lindsay Hartley and Galen Gering, and follows the Crane family as they’re running the city of Harmony; the series aired from 1999 to 2008 and won 18 of its 108 award nominations.
Mary was homeschooled following her success in the film industry, and took and passed her GED tests in 2003.
She played one of the main characters Wendy Christensen in the 2006 horror thriller movie “Final Destination 3”, which also starred Ryan Merriman and Kris Lemche, and tells the story of a girl and her friends who’ve escaped death, while death is now hunting them; the film was nominated for six awards.
A couple of Mary’s following notable performances were in the horror movie “Black Christmas” and the biographical film “Factory Girl” both in 2006, and the 2007 action thriller movie “Death Proof”.
She starred as Ramona Flowers, alongside Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin, in the evergreen 2010 action fantasy comedy movie “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”, which follows a young man who has to defeat all of his new girlfriend’s former boyfriends; the film won 18 of its 83 award nominations.
Mary’s also known for her portrayal of Sarah in the 2016 fantasy comedy film “Swiss Army Man”, written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and in which she starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano. It follows a man who’s been stranded on an uninhabited island, and has befriended a dead body; the film won eight of its 39 award nominations.
Three of Mary’s most recent roles have been in the 2019 action science fiction adventure movie “Gemini Man”, the 2020 action adventure comedy film “Birds of Prey”, and the 2021 action crime adventure movie “Kate”; she’s currently shooting for the upcoming mini-series “Ahsoka”, and for the movie “Ursa Major”.
Mary’s won four of the 28 awards for which she’s been nominated: her wins include 2017 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Actress and iHorror Award for Best Actress – Horror Film, both for her performance in “10 Cloverfield Lane”.
Mary gave birth to her and Ewan McGregor’s son Laurie on 27 June 2021, and she married Ewan in April 2022.
