Ruth Negga Biography

Ruth Negga (born 1982) is an Ethiopian-Irish actress known for her appearances in films such as Capital Letters (2004) (also released as Trafficked in some countries), Isolation (2005), Breakfast on Pluto (2005), and Warcraft (2016). She is also known for her television roles, such as the BBC mini-series Criminal Justice, RT's Love/Hate, E4's Misfits, and ABC's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. She currently stars as Tulip O'Hare in AMC's Preacher.

Early life

Negga was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1982, to an Irish mother and an Ethiopian father, and lived in the country until she was four. She is an only child, but has a large family on her mother's side. Her father died in a car accident when she was seven. Raised in Limerick, Ireland, she has lived in London since 2006.

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

Career

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, Criminal Justice and the Irish series Love Is the Drug. She also 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 Love/Hate. Negga also appeared as Dame Shirley Bassey in the BBC production Shirley in 2011, and won the IFTA Award for Best Actress (Television) for her performance.

Negga's 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.

Negga has also provided voice acting in the video game Dark Souls II, playing Shanalotte, otherwise known as "the Emerald Herald". Shanalotte is a key character in the game, providing guidance to the player as well as permitting the player to develop their character in exchange for collected souls.

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. In 2013, she appeared in Steve McQueen's Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave. 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 starred in Loving, which premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. The film is based on the true story of the Lovings, a married interracial couple in 1950s Virginia. Negga received rave reviews for the role.

Personal life

Negga has been dating actor Dominic Cooper, with whom she lives in London, since 2010.

Awards

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.

Theatre

• Phdre: National Theatre London (2009)
• Hamlet: National Theatre London (2010/11)
• Playboy of the Western World: Old Vic Theatre London (2011)

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Capital Letters	Taiwo
2005	Stars	Sophie	Short film
2005	3-Minute 4-Play	Woman	Short film
2005	Breakfast on Pluto	Charlie
2005	Isolation	Mary
2005	Colour Me Kubrick	Lolita
2006	The Four Horsemen	Woman Priest	Short film
2009	Corduroy	Tess	Short film
2010	Jacob
2010	Bleach	Anne	Short film
2011	Hello Carter	Doctor	Short film
2012	Fury	Iris	'
2013	World War Z	WHO doctor
2013	12 Years a Slave	Celeste	Deleted scenes
2013	Jimi: All Is by My Side	Ida
2013	Things He Never Said	Rachel	Short film
2014	Noble	Joan
2014	Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind	Jessica
2016	Loving	Mildred Loving
2016	Warcraft	Lady Taria

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Doctors	Wanda Harrison	Episode: "The Replacement"
2004	Love is the Drug	Lisa Sheerin	4 episodes
2008	Criminal Justice	Melanie Lloyd	5 episodes
2009	Personal Affairs	Doris "Sid" Siddiqi	5 episodes
2010	Five Daughters	Rochelle	3 episodes
2010-2011	Love/Hate	Rosie	8 episodes
2010	Misfits	Nikki	6 episodes
2010	The Nativity	Leah	4 episodes
2011	Shirley	Shirley Bassey	Television film
2012	Secret State	Agnes Evans	4 episodes
2013-2015	Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Raina	17 episodes
2016-present	Preacher	Tulip O'Hare

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role
2014	Dark Souls II	Shanalotte