SKY : First look at Julia Stiles in Sky Atlantic’s audacious new original drama Riviera

Riviera is an intoxicating thriller set in the opulent playground of the French Riviera, home to the world's filthy rich. With morally ambiguous characters, complex relationships and audacious excess, viewers will get front row seats to the dazzling depravity of the ultra-rich. The sun-drenched luxury of the South of France provides the deceptively picture-perfect backdrop.

Julia Stiles commented 'Shooting 'Riviera' has been such an experience already. The locations we're using are stunning and the cast is really solid. In the centre of the show we have this world of luxury and excess with Georgina as the heroine of the piece. The show is driven by a number of powerful female characters, such as Irina, the first wife of her husband Constantine, played by Lena Olin. They both radiate power but in different ways.The show takes you into the hidden world of the super-rich - it's glamorous, it's unpredictable. All is not what it seems.'

Julia Stiles plays Georgina, a Midwestern US girl turned smart, resourceful wife of the billionaire Constantine Clios. After just a year of marriage, Georgina's immaculate new life is

blown apart when her art collector husband Constantine is killed in an explosion aboard the yacht of a Russian oligarch and arms dealer. Believing there to be more to the tragedy, she sets out to uncover what happened. Dark truths about Constantine's dealings emerge and, as she begins to realise who she was really married to, Georgina enters a spiral of moral descent as she becomes immersed in a world of lies, double-dealing and criminality.

Alongside Julia the show will star Adrian Lester (Undercover, London Spy) as Georgina's friend and art dealer Robert Carver; Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones) and Dimitri Leonidas (The Monuments Men) as Constantine's sons Adam and Christos; Academy Award nominee Lena Olin (Vinyl, Chocolat) as Irina, Constantine's beautiful ex-wife, Roxanne Duran (White Ribbon) as Adriana and Phil Davis as Jukes, the art fraud investigator trying to get to the heart of the truth. Newly announced to the cast is Amr Waked (Luc Besson's 'Lucy', Salmon Fishing In The Yemen) who will play Karim Delormes, an inspector in the Nice police force determined to fight the corruption that hides in the shadows of the French Riviera. Igal Naor (The Honourable Woman) will play Jakob Negrescu, the former head of security for Constantine who now sits atop a pyramid of drugs, prostitution and violence.

Available for Sky's 21 million customers across five countries to enjoy, Riviera will be shown exclusively on Sky Atlantic in the UK, Ireland and Italy in 2017 as well as on the Sky platform in Germany and Austria.

Riviera joins a host of original drama series set to air on Sky Atlantic - the home of world class storytelling - including The Young Pope, Guerrilla and Tin Star, as well as returning series such as Fortitude and Gomorrah.

For more information, please contact DawBell PR:

Stuart Bell: stuart.bell@dawbell.com

Lisa Birch: lisa.birch@dawbell.com

James Smyllie: james.smyllie@dawbell.com

Riviera is being produced by Archery Pictures and Primo Productions. Executive producers are Neil Jordan, Liza Marshall (Red Riding Trilogy, Taboo), Kris Thykier (Kick-Ass, Woman in Gold) and former U2 manager Paul McGuinness. The series will be produced by Foz Allan, with award winning Philipp Kadelbach as lead Director (Generation War, SSGB) and BAFTA award winning Laurie Rose as Director of Photography. The series was commissioned by Sky's head of drama Anne Mensah, commissioning editor Cameron Roach and director of Sky Atlantic Zai Bennett.

Worldwide distribution is being handled by Sky Vision (Sky international division).

About Sky

Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company, serving 22 million customers across five countries: UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of £12 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of £5.2 billion. The group employs 30,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).