Actor Sam Riley is on his way to becoming a Hollywood A-lister, after taking on heavyweight roles in two new movies.

The Menston actor plays sinister young gangster Pinkie Brown in Brighton Rock, due for release next month.

The role was made famous by screen legend Richard Attenborough in the original 1947 film.

Although based on Graham Greene’s classic novel, the new film shifts the action from the 1930s setting of the book to 1964, against a backdrop of mods and rockers clashing in Brighton.

The underworld thriller is set around violent sociopath and up-and-coming gangster Pinkie Brown who murders journalist Charles Hale for betraying his former gang leader.

Pinkie’s attempts to cover his tracks leads to a chain of crimes and a doomed marriage to a shy young waitress who knows too much.

The star-studded cast includes Dame Helen Mirren, John Hurt, Andy Serkis, Phil Davies and Andrea Riseborough.

Sam, 30, grew up in Menston and now lives in Berlin with his wife, actress Alexandra Maria Lara.

The former frontman of indie band 10,000 Things, he shot to fame playing troubled Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in 2007 film Control, for which he won several international awards and was nominated for a Bafta.

As well as Brighton Rock, he also stars in upcoming film On the Road, based on Jack Kerouac’s novel about road trips he and his friends took across mid-20th century America.

The book is considered a defining work of the post-war Beat Generation, inspired by jazz, poetry and drug-fuelled experiences. The film, starring Kirsten Stewart from The Twilight Saga, is due out this spring.