Charlotte Riley will dominate our television screens this year with three exciting new dramas launching this autumn.
The Peaky Blinders star takes the lead in Mike Bartlett's Press, and has supporting roles in Danny Boyle's biopic Trust, and crime thriller Dark Heart.
Having previously starred in big budget Hollywood movies - as well as award-winning dramas - Riley argues that television is far more "accessible for women", as the longer narrative provides more enticing and evolving female roles.
"I feel like it's getting harder and harder to make films... It's sad, but I don’t think people go to the cinema now unless they're going to see a superhero movie or a big blockbuster popcorn film," Riley told Harper's Bazaar UK.
"So with TV and longer form narratives, I think it’s definitely, definitely more accessible for women in terms of more interesting roles, and more interesting stories about women.
"A few years ago it was all, 'we want women's stories by women' but they didn’t really mean it. But now that is beginning to change. It's a real tuning point now."
Here's a guide to the must-watch dramas Riley will be starring in this year:
Press (BBC One)
Having previously worked with Doctor Foster's Bartlett in the critically-acclaimed King Charles III as the Duchess of Cambridge, the pair have reunited for BBC One's Press - a "sympathetic" look at the longevity of print media.
Riley leads the cast as a hard-working deputy news editor of fictional broadsheet The Herald, up against Ben Chaplin as the editor of rival tabloid newspaper The Post.
"It's one of those projects that as an actress, you don't often read - a brilliant lead character, where there was so much to be done with her," Riley explained. "She wasn't a one-line instrument like sadly so many characters for female actors are."
The series is set in the fast-paced environment of the British newspaper industry, and follows the constant professional dilemmas facing its characters amid the never-ending pressure of the 24-hour global news cycle and an industry in turmoil.
"It's sympathetic to the press... It made me realise how hard it is, and how much of a vocation it is. I remember back in the day the career counsellor told me the best way to get into acting was to become a journalist. You really, really, really have to want to do it, especially in this day and age."
Dark Heart (ITV)
Riley plays the sibling to troubled Detective brother William Wagstaffe, who investigates a string of horrifying murders in the crime thriller from Unforgotten's Chris Lang.
Both are haunted by the unsolved murder of their parents when they were teenagers, Wagstaffe continuing a personal hunt for their killers when he's called to the scene of a disturbingly brutal murder. When it emerges that this is not the only victim, the pressure is on as he pushes the boundaries in his search for the truth.
"It's a lovely piece - without giving it away, it's a dark murder mystery," Riley said. "I've never played a sibling before, and that was interesting and a different dynamic to anything I've played before, and is quite hard to get the dynamic right."
Trust (BBC Two)
Riley plays real-life character Robina Lund - the former lawyer and confidante to oil heir John Paul Getty - played by Donald Sutherland - who refuses to pay his grandson John Paul Getty III's ransom following his kidnapping in 1973.
Directed by Danny Boyle, the family saga follows Getty III's mother - played by Hillary Swank - who tries to negotiate between her father-in-law and her son's kidnappers to ensure her son's safe release.
"Robina and Getty had a really interesting relationship," Riley explained, "she was one of the only people who stood up to him and was in control of his money.
"She worked side by side with him for years and he trusted her and she was one of the only women that he didn’t have relationship. It was platonic, which is why it was interesting and fascinating... And being on set with Donald Sutherland is pretty epic."
