Until Ruth Negga was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the 2017 movie, Loving, you might not have known who the actress was. In fact, you may still not know who she is. Ruth Negga, who has also appeared in Iona (2015), Breakfast on Pluto (2005), and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-2015), can currently be seen on the August 2017 cover of Town and Country, as well as on AMC’s Preacher. For anyone who is unfamiliar with this rising star, here are 5 things you didn’t know about Ruth Negga.
She traveled quite a bit as a child.
Ruth was born in Addis Abada, Ethiopia to an Ethiopian doctor and an Irish nurse. When she was 4, her mother took her back to her home country of Ireland due to increasing violence in Ethiopia. They settled near her mom’s family in Limerick. Her father was supposed to follow, but was unable to leave Ethiopia. When she was 7, he was killed in a car accident. Her mother never remarried, leaving Ruth an only child who was happily raised around 23 cousins, which kept her from getting lonely. She later traveled to London before returning to Dublin to study at Trinity University.
She has only recently started to deal with her father’s death.
In a 2017 interview with AnOther, Ruth admitted that she and her mother were informed of her father’s untimely death in a phone call. At that time, there was no grief counseling for children in Ireland, leaving her to bottle up her feelings inside. In the past year, she has started seeing a therapist to help process her feelings over his death.
Although she’s not married, Ruth has been with her partner for 8 years.
While rehearsing a performance for the National Theatre in London, Ruth met and started dating Dominic Cooper. The two have lived together in London since 2010. Currently, they have no plans to marry, but are content together. The two costar together on Preacher, which is filmed in New Mexico.
She is not a fan of social media or cell phones.
Also, while talking with AnOther, Ruth admitted she has no real interest in social media. In fact, she swears she has never been on Facebook. She went on to say, “I barely have a phone. It broke a few weeks ago and it was such a relief. While her co-stars are posting selfies on Instagram, Ruth prefers to play pranks, admitting that her favorite is putting Saran wrap over the toilet.
She came very close to having a breakout role in 2013’s 12 Years a Slave.
Ruth spent several days while the movie was filming portraying a runaway slave named Celeste. Unfortunately, Celeste’s escape through a swamp filled with crocodiles was left on the editing room floor. In 2017, she admitted to Irish Times that she was incredibly disappointed by the turn of events, though she did say that director Steve McQueen called her directly and let her know what happened. Apparently, “he let me down gently.”
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