Control Actor describes his life in Berlin.
Hmm... currywurst 
Me and my girl
I moved to Berlin from Leeds to be with my girlfriend, Alex, who was in the film Control with me. I've been going as often as possible, most weekends since we finished filming around six months ago, and I'm planning to stay there permanently. It's green, it's clean, and the Germans are nice people. They're much more similar to the English than we sometimes like to admit. In some ways it feels like Britain, though I'm struggling with the language a bit. But I love it. I loved it as soon as I got there, and her, so it made sense.
A romantic evening
I'd take Alex to the Paris Bar (Kantstr 152, parisbar.de). It's a popular hangout for thespian types and it does a good cocktail. I don't have a clue who they are but I've met a few German actors, the people Alex has been working with. Herbert Grönemeyer, who played my doctor in Control, is like Germany's Bono or something. But he lives in London now to escape the attention over here. Gainsbourg (Savignyplatz 5, gainsbourg.de) is a cool, American-style bar. The nightlife is quite different from back in Leeds, mainly because it's a lot harder to get into trouble, which is quite nice. That's the other reason I live in Berlin these days. I shouldn't really say what I used to get into trouble for though.
First date
The first place Alex took me to was the Berlin Zoo (zoo-berlin.de), because there was that famous little polar bear there, Knut, which everyone in Germany was crazy about. I think zoos are pretty sad places really. There was an orang-utan in desperate need of a hair-cut, but the zoo is right in the centre, which is great ... except for the elephants breathing in the petrol fumes.
Where we eat
Wiener schnitzels, I love those. We go to a place called Offenthal (Kantstrasse 153) in Kurfurstendamm which does an excellent one. Then there's the currywurst - basically it's a curried sausage with lots of ketchup and curry powder on the top. It sounds disgusting but it's delicious with chips and mayonnaise and a Berliner Pilsner beer. The 24-hour currywurst place is also on Kurfurstendamm. And Ali Baba's (Bleibtreustrasse 45) is a good pizza place.
Live music
Clubbing is obviously the main scene in Berlin - I mean, they invented techno, but that's never been one of my favourites. There is still quite a lot of live music though. We go to a venue called the A Trane (Bleibtreustrasse 1, a-trane.de) which is quite near where we live and is a jazzy sort of place. And one called the Lido (Cuvrystrasse 7, lido-berlin.de). I saw sa band called Dogs there. We used to tour with them when I was in the band, 10,000 Things. They sent me a text message saying they were in town and were playing so I went along.
Green spaces
Berlin is actually quite a small city, just 3.4 million, less than half the size of London, so it feels more relaxed and everything's really spread out. One of the best things about it is that it has loads of outdoor spaces, lots of parks and lakes. My favourite place to go to is Wannsee, a beautiful lake that everyone goes to right near the city, with little boats and paths for walking.
Must sees
Berlin is an amazing place because of its history, and it used to be so separate. Alex took me on a tourist tour of all the sights when I arrived, which you should do. The Brandenburg Gate, the Tiergarten, the Siegessäule (Victory Column), the big sculpture in the middle of the roundabout, a statue on top of a pillar, Hitler moved it there from somewhere. Checkpoint Charlie was really interesting. It has a pretty incredible museum of crazy ways people tried to smuggle themselves out of the old East. Like there was a guy who tried to smuggle his girlfriend out in his guitar amp, by putting her inside and screwing it back together. People escaped in half filled out fuel tanks.
What they've done with the Potsdamer Platz in the past 10 years is incredible. Until that point it was in the middle of no-man's land between the old east and west, but they've built monuments and giant cinemas there.
Hip districts
We live in Charlottenburg, a really nice area in the west, with lots of lovely old buildings. All the flats have really high ceilings, and it's cheap, even cheaper than Leeds. Mitte (above) is the hip area where students and actors live; it's a bit busy and like London in the way people look at each other to see who's cooler, but it's good fun for going out. There's a great bar called the Green Door (Winterfeldtstr 50, greendoor.de).
· Sam Riley is nominated for the Orange Rising Star Award at the Baftas. Find out more at orange.co.uk/bafta.
