Ruth Negga
Ruth Negga (born 4 May 1981) is an Ethiopian-Irish actress recognized for her performances in film and television.[1] Born in Addis Ababa to an Ethiopian father and Irish mother, she moved to Limerick, Ireland, at age four following her father's death and was raised there by her mother.[1] Negga holds Irish citizenship and trained at Trinity College Dublin, graduating with a degree in acting studies.[2] Her breakthrough role came as Mildred Loving in the 2016 biographical drama Loving, depicting the interracial couple whose legal battle led to the U.S. Supreme Court case striking down bans on such marriages; for this portrayal, she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, along with Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.[3] Negga also gained prominence for starring as Tulip O'Hare in the AMC series Preacher (2016–2019), adapting the comic book series with a focus on supernatural elements and moral ambiguity.[4] Other notable film roles include Holly in Breakfast on Pluto (2005), for which she received an IFTA nomination, and appearances in Passing (2021) and Ad Astra (2019).[5] Negga has maintained an active stage career, earning Olivier Award nominations for roles in Macbeth and The House of Bernarda Alba, and continues to select projects emphasizing complex characters over mainstream commercial appeal.[2] Her work often explores themes of identity and displacement, informed by her binational heritage, though she has publicly emphasized self-definition over imposed racial or ethnic labels.[6]