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Ruth Negga
Ruth Negga by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg
Negga at Comic-Con 2017
Born (1981-05-04) 4 May 1981 (age 43)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Nationality Irish, Ethiopian
Alma mater Trinity College Dublin
Occupation Actress
Years active 2004–present
Awards Irish Film & Television Academy, 2012

Ruth Negga (/ˈnɡə/ NAY-gə; born 4 May 1981) is an Irish actress known for the AMC television series Preacher and the film Loving. For her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the latter, Negga received several major nominations from the Academy Awards, British Academy Film Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, and won the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actress. In 2022, Negga made her Broadway debut in a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth as Lady Macbeth, and earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.

Negga has also appeared in the films Capital Letters (2004) (also released as Trafficked in some countries), Isolation (2005), Breakfast on Pluto (2005), Warcraft (2016), and Passing (2021). Other television projects include the BBC mini-series Criminal Justice, RTÉ's Love/Hate, E4's Misfits, and ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Early life and education

Negga was born in 1981 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to an Irish mother, Nora, and an Ethiopian father. Her parents met while working at a hospital in Ethiopia; her mother was a nurse and her father was a doctor. Negga, an only child, lived in the country until she was four. Her father died in a car accident when she was seven. She grew up in Limerick, Ireland, until moving to London, England for secondary school.

Negga studied at the Samuel Beckett Centre at Trinity College Dublin, graduating with a BA in Acting Studies.

Career

Ruth Negga (28813326747)
Negga at the San Diego Comic Con for the AMC show Preacher in 2018

Negga made her screen debut in the Irish film Capital Letters (2004), playing the lead role of Taiwo. She went on to play the lead role of Mary in Isolation the following year. Prior to this, she had been working mostly in theatre. After seeing Negga act, director Neil Jordan changed the script to Breakfast on Pluto so that she could appear in the movie. She has also starred in Colour Me Kubrick (2005), with John Malkovich, and the short films The Four Horsemen, 3-Minute 4-Play and Stars.

On television Negga has appeared in Doctors and Criminal Justice. She played the lead role of Doris "Sid" Siddiqi in the BBC Three series Personal Affairs, alongside Laura Aikman, Annabel Scholey and Maimie McCoy. Negga portrayed Rosie in the first two series of RTÉ's Love/Hate.

Negga appeared as Dame Shirley Bassey in the BBC production Shirley in 2011 and won the IFTA Award for Best Actress (Television) for her performance. Her theatre work includes roles in Duck, Titus Andronicus and Lay Me Down Softly. As of 2007, she began working with the Irish theatrical group Pan Pan Theatre. In 2010, she played Ophelia in the National Theatre's production of Hamlet. She also provided voice acting in the video game Dark Souls II, playing Shanalotte, otherwise known as "the Emerald Herald".

In 2013, it was announced that Negga had been booked for a recurring role as Raina on the American TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. She appeared in 17 episodes of the programme. She filmed scenes for Steve McQueen's Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave, but her role was ultimately cut from the movie. In March 2015, Negga was cast in the role of Tulip O'Hare in AMC fantasy drama series Preacher, which debuted the following year.

In 2016, Negga portrayed Mildred Loving in the Jeff Nichols historical romance Loving, which premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and later screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film is based on the true story of the Lovings, a married interracial couple in the 1950s and 1960s Virginia, whose relationship led to the Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia. Negga received rave reviews for the role, and garnered multiple award nominations, including for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the BAFTA Rising Star Award.

Negga played Prince Hamlet in the Gate Theatre's 2018 production (directed by Yaël Farber) of Hamlet (Having a woman play the role of Prince Hamlet although depicted as a man in the play is a precedent established in Dublin by Fanny Furnival in 1741). Negga reprised the role of Hamlet to equal acclaim at St. Ann's Warehouse in spring 2020. In February 2021, it was announced that Negga will star in and executive produce a limited drama series about legendary Jazz age performer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker.

In 2021, Negga starred in Rebecca Hall's period drama Passing opposite Tessa Thompson. The film is adapted from Nella Larsen's 1929 novel of the same name. The film premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was shown at the New York Film Festival in the fall. Negga portrays Clare, a light-skinned Black woman in 1920s New York, navigating the color line by passing as a white woman. Variety praised Negga's performance writing, "Negga, brittle and dazzling, commands attention exactly the way Clare does in every room she walks into." For her performance, Negga was nominated for the Golden Globe Award, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress.

In September 2021, it was announced that Negga will be making her Broadway debut in a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth as Lady Macbeth, alongside Daniel Craig as the titular character. For her performance in the play, she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.

In October 2022, Negga was cast to star in Dan Levy's directorial debut Good Grief.

In the media

In 2020, Negga was ranked number 10 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. In 2006 she was also chosen as the Irish Shooting Star for the Berlin Film Festival.

Personal life

In 2006, Negga was engaged to actor Tadhg Murphy, whom she had been dating since university.

Negga was in a relationship with actor Dominic Cooper beginning in 2010. They first met in 2009 while working together in a stage adaptation of Phèdre with Helen Mirren. The two lived together in London's Primrose Hill. The couple were in a relationship for six years; however, Negga has pointed out that it took the press years to learn of the break-up, which was first reported in April 2018. Negga appeared opposite Cooper in AMC's Preacher, in which the pair portrayed lovers, and has said that they are "best friends".

As of 2020, Negga resides in Los Angeles, California.

Theatre

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2004 Capital Letters Taiwo
2005 Breakfast on Pluto Charlie
Isolation Mary
2006 Colour Me Kubrick Lolita Uncredited
2012 The Samaritan Iris
2013 World War Z WHO doctor
12 Years a Slave Celeste Deleted scenes
Jimi: All Is by My Side Ida
2014 Noble Joan
Of Mind and Music Jessica
2015 Iona Iona
2016 Loving Mildred Loving
Warcraft Queen Taria
2017 Angela's Christmas Mother Voice
2019 Ad Astra Helen Lantos
2020 Angela's Christmas Wish Mother Voice
2021 Passing Clare Bellew
TBA Good Grief TBA Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2004 Doctors Wanda Harrison Episode: "The Replacement"
2009 Personal Affairs Sid / Doris Siddiqui Recurring (5 episodes)
2010–2011 Love/Hate Rosie Recurring (seasons 1–2)
2010 Misfits Nikki Recurring (season 2)
The Nativity Leah 4 episodes
2011 Shirley Shirley Bassey Main
2012 Secret State Agnes Evans
2013–2015,
2018
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Raina Recurring (seasons 1–2)
Guest (season 5); 17 episodes
2016–2019 Preacher Tulip O'Hare Main; also executive producer
2019 Lucy O'Hare-Custer "End of the World" (series finale)
TBA Presumed Innocent Barbara Sabich Upcoming miniseries

Video games

Year Title Role
2011 El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Ishtar
2014 Dark Souls II Shanalotte (Emerald Herald)

Awards and nominations

Negga was nominated as 2003's Most Promising Newcomer at the Olivier Awards. She was chosen as Ireland's Shooting Star for the 2006 Berlin Film Festival. She has received many accolades for her role of Mildred Loving in the 2016 film Loving, including Academy Award, Critic's Choice, and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress. In 2022, her portrayal of Clare Bellew in 2021 film Passing garnered her critical recognition including the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, and industry nominations from the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and the BAFTA.

Year Association Category Work Result
2004 Laurence Olivier Award Best Newcomer in a Play Duck Nominated
2005 Irish Film & Television Academy Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Film Breakfast on Pluto Nominated
Best Actress in a Lead Role – Film Isolation Nominated
2011 Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Television Love/Hate Nominated
2012 Misfits Nominated
Best Actress in a Lead Role – Television Shirley Won
Royal Television Society RTS Television Award for Best Actor (Female) Nominated
Irish Film & Television Academy Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Television Secret State Nominated
2015 British Academy Scotland Awards Best Actress in Film Iona Nominated
London Film Critics Circle Awards British/Irish Actress of the Year Loving and Iona Nominated
2016 New York Film Critics Online Best Breakthrough Performer Loving Won
African-American Film Critics Association Best Actress Won
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Actress Won
Black Reel Awards Outstanding Actress Won
Palm Springs International Film Festival Rising Star Award Won
Santa Barbara International Film Festival Vituosos Award Won
Satellite Awards Best Actress (tied with Isabelle Huppert) Won
Academy Awards Best Actress Nominated
AACTA International Awards Best Actress Nominated
Austin Film Critics Association Best Actress Nominated
British Academy Film Awards BAFTA Rising Star Award Nominated
Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Actress Nominated
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Best Actress Nominated
Detroit Film Critics Society Awards Best Actress Nominated
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actress Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Nominated
Gotham Independent Film Awards Best Actress Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards Best Female Lead Nominated
London Film Critics Circle Awards British/Irish Actress of the Year Nominated
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Actress Nominated
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Best Actress Nominated
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actress Nominated
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards Best Actress Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Actress Nominated
Irish Film & Television Academy Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Drama Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nominated
2019 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program Angela's Christmas Nominated
2020 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Play Hamlet Nominated
2021 Chicago Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress Passing Won
Chicago Indie Critics Awards Best Supporting Actress Won
Columbus Film Critics Association Won
Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Awards Won
New York Film Critics Online Won
Philadelphia Film Critics Circle Won
Women Film Critics Circle Best Screen Couple Won
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Florida Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Gotham Independent Film Awards Outstanding Supporting Performance Nominated
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Best Supporting Actress Nominated
North Carolina Film Critics Association Nominated
Portland Critics Association Awards Nominated
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
2022 Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Female Won
International Cinephile Society Awards Best Supporting Actress Won
London Film Critics' Circle Best Supporting Actress Won
National Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Actress Won
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actress Won
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Most Daring Performance Nominated
Austin Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Black Reel Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress Nominated
British Academy Film Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated
DiscussingFilm Critics Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Georgia Film Critics Association Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association Best Supporting Actress Nominated
North Dakota Film Society Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Seattle Film Critics Society Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated
Toronto Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Tony Awards Best Actress in a Play Macbeth Nominated

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Ruth Negga para niños

  • List of actors with Academy Award nominations
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