Don’t shine a spotlight on me, says Ruth
RUTH neGGa likes to hide in plain sight. ‘ There are amazing actors who have charisma — you don’t want to see them disappear,’ she said.
‘Like Julia Roberts! she has extraordinary magnetism. I don’t have that, so I’m interested in the disappearing act.’
We were chatting as we sat on a private roof terrace in West Hollywood that also happened to be a sanctuary for hummingbirds (which seemed appropriate, given that negga herself is like a tiny little bird).
and I notice that she’s doing it now. Disappearing. Black leather jacket, black slacks, dark hair tucked under a black cap.
The only flash of colour comes from an emerald ring — on loan to her with other gems from ethical jeweller Gemshield while she travels coast to coast in the U.s. (and across europe) promoting her film, Loving, which goes on release in the UK on February 3.
Loving is the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who were instrumental in overturning repugnant old slavery laws about interracial marriage.
Richard was white. Mildred was black. and in Virginia in 1958 such a liaison was deemed to be illegal.
The couple had to marry across the state line, in Washington DC, and were denied the right to live as a married couple in their home state.
over a period of nine years, during which time the Lovings had three children, lawyers took on their case, taking it all the way to the U.s. supreme Court, where the slavery laws were overturned.
The picture was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and the portraits of the Lovings by negga and Joel edgerton were rightly acclaimed.
Jeff nichols’s movie is one of the best depictions of ordinary folks fighting injustice that I have ever seen, and the performances are quietly captivating yet stirring.
negga, who was born in ethiopia but raised by her Irish mother in Limerick and then south London, is magnificent as Mildred. I’ve seen the film five times in an effort to discover how she does it, and I still can’t work it out. she simply inhabits the character.
The actress said she studied a documentary featuring footage of the Lovings and it was important to her that she got the southern accent correct. she nails it — and as a result — disappears into Mildred.
‘I didn’t want it to be mimicry, obviously,’ she told me.
‘ They [ the Lovings] were a couple of few words. They were reserved and polite in their countenance,’ she added, as she sipped camomile tea and we shared a mezze plate of spicy dips and warm breads.
negga and edgerton capture the Lovings so well you can tell what they are thinking, and feeling, just by observing them. Both actors were nominated for Golden Globes last weekend, but I’m disappointed that they weren’t recognised in the Bafta line-up.
NeGGais in the running for a Rising star Bafta, though; something she’s pleased about.
‘When you’re a kid, you rehearse your oscar speech in the bath. But you don’t think you’re going to get near an oscar — or anything else — when you’re seven!’
she studied acting for three years at Trinity College, Dublin, and carved out a career for herself, working at the national Theatre during nicholas Hytner’s tenure and taking various film and television roles, including hitwoman Tulip o’Hare in U.s. TV series Preacher, opposite Dominic Cooper, to whom she became close.
‘I didn’t do acting to be famous or become a celebrity. acting is the art of human observation. People fascinate me,’ she said — and I get the sense she would much rather watch others than be watched herself. negga laughed and described herself as ‘the shyest exhibitionist’.
after Loving was screened in Cannes last May, she thought she would go to the Toronto International Film Festival in september, where it was also shown; and perhaps attend one or two screenings in January.
But in between filming Preacher, she’s been on the road almost constantly. ‘It’s been nearly eight months!’ The promotional work does have its upside, however. Famed Hollywood stylist Karla Welch has helped transform Ruth.
‘I was so green on everything,’ she said. ‘Terrified! Rabbit in the headlights.
‘But I get up in the morning — and wash myself, if I’m lucky. and then people come into my room; and put my face and hair together. Put clothes on me. and I’m out the door!
‘ They do all the glam. I’m not fashion-forward, but I have got to wear some of the most beautiful things!
‘all of which I’ve returned, by the way.’