If Alexandria Riley wants you to take anything from this interview, it’s that you’re never too old to try something new. Despite her life-long passion for acting – a love affair which began as a young girl at school in Wales – it wasn’t until she was in her early 30s that she decided to make a go of it. At that point, she’d already had a career in insurance and fashion merchandising, and the stakes were high. 

“I had a mortgage, I was a parent, so if this went wrong, I would have upturned my life for it,” says Riley. “I was really fearful. It was a case of resilience, determination, hunger and people seeing a talent in you, and that will always trump those [ageist] preconceptions. There’s nothing saying you can’t do it at any point in your life.”

Born in Newport to a working class family, Riley admits becoming an actor felt like “a really unreachable dream” until she enrolled at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama at 32. “I did feel insecure at first but part of the reason I did the masters was for myself and to make me feel a bit more secure about the fact I had training. I’m not saying you need to go through training – a lot of actors don’t – but for me personally, I just wanted a bit of security. I was the oldest on the course and it felt funny at times but I’ve had an immense amount of opportunities so I think that’s all bulls***.” 

She’s not wrong. Riley landed her first Netflix role, starring opposite Alex Lawther and Jessica Barden in The End of the F***ing World, in 2019, and her career quickly grew momentum. “Doors were opening and I felt like I was being discovered. Then I did The Pembrokeshire Murders” – for which she was nominated for a leading actress BAFTA – “which was my first lead with Luke Evans; it was a true crime drama, which I love, and it was the first time I stepped into a leading role. Both of those made me feel like I was on the right track.” 

This month sees Riley step into another leading role in the third season of Silo, which is released on Apple TV today (3 July 2026). Reprising her role of Camille Sims – who Riley describes as “front-footed, forward-thinking, and loyal” – in the BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated series’ penultimate season, the sci-fi storyline is based on the best-selling books by Hugh Howey. It transports audiences to a dystopian world where 10,000 people live in a giant, 144-level underground bunker and believe the Earth’s surface is toxic. Governed by corrupt leaders, the biggest rule of all is never saying you want to go outside.

Camille was, at conception in 2023, meant to be a minor character, but this season sees Riley go head to head with Rebecca Ferguson as fellow protagonist, Juliette Nichols. “Camille is a gift. As an actor, this is a role you strive for. There are so many layers to her and I could really get my teeth into the character,” says Riley. “I’ve been able to mould her along with the writers and directors, because she wasn’t supposed to be in it. She was only supposed to be in the first two episodes and the writers room thought there was something in her, and it ended up being a bigger part and now she’s leading this season. It’s been an incredible opportunity.” 

Riley reveals that when she was first told about the directors’ ambition to push Camille into the spotlight, she was terrified. “When I first knew how it was going, I was like ‘I can’t do it’. I doubt myself and second guess a lot. Camille had been existing in the grey up until this point; she wasn’t good, she wasn’t bad, and it was fine and comfortable. This season, she steps into a more controversial area.” 

It helps, of course, to have a supportive team around you – and Riley explains that Ferguson was a brilliant on-screen partner. “Working with Rebecca was incredible. First of all, she’s an incredible actress but second of all, she’s one of the most supportive actors I’ve ever worked with. The whole team is such a support network. Rebecca and I go head to head quite a bit; those scenes are quite explosive and electric and we had so much fun bouncing off each other.” 

Fans will also be getting something different with Silo’s third season, as there’s not one, but two storylines to follow. “The two timelines running consecutively are separated by 300 years so we get an origin story alongside a new one. Audiences get a few more puzzle pieces to put together. While Silo is sci-fi, it’s also a mystery, so you can work stuff out as you go. They also get a few more answers which I know they’ve been asking for. 

“In terms of the character, there’s going to be a lot of conflicting feelings around Camille’s decisions and choices. She moves into an area where she’s making questionable decisions so it will be interesting to see how people react to that.” Is it fun to play someone controversial? “Definitely. Camille is always a couple of steps ahead of the game which is what I love about her. We see what she’s capable of [and] some of the things she decides to do are quite shocking. As an actor, it gives you permission to make really s*** decisions.”

The third season of Silo lands on Apple TV on 3 July 2026. 

Read more: Ella Hunt is living her New York dream