8 Roles That Led Ruth Negga to Her First Oscar Nomination
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If it feels like you've been seeing Ruth Negga's name everywhere lately, you're not alone. In January, the Ethiopian-Irish actress scored her very first Oscar nomination for her work in Loving, the incredible true story of interracial couple Mildred and Richard Loving, but she's been around for quite some time. Ruth first caught the attention of audiences everywhere in 2005 with her role in Breakfast on Pluto, and since then the 35-year-old star has been busy racking up a list of unforgettable onscreen moments.
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Breakfast on Pluto
Negga's first big break was playing Charlie in this 2005 film about the life of a young trans woman (Cillian Murphy) who struggles to find her place in the world in 1970s Ireland.
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Misfits
In 2010, Negga gained a whole new fan base when she appeared in the British TV show Misfits, which follows the lives of a group of misbehaving teens who gain superpowers after a freak electrical storm. She signed on in season two as Nikki, a woman with a heart condition who later discovers she can teleport.
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Love/Hate
Negga dove into Dublin's criminal underworld in the 2010 TV drama Love/Hate with Misfits costar Robert Sheehan, playing the ex-girlfriend to his recovering gang member.
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
After playing a superhero (of sorts) on Misfits, she stepped into the Marvel universe in 2013 as Raina, an "inhuman" with precognitive abilities (and some freaky facial spikes).
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Iona
Negga earned rave reviews for her remarkable performance in this 2015 indie drama about a mother and son coping with the aftermath of a violent crime.
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Preacher
Negga scored a big role as Tulip O'Hare on AMC's hit show Preacher alongside real-life boyfriend Dominic Cooper in 2016.
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Warcraft: The Beginning
This 2016 movie adaptation of the popular video game is widely regarded as a bland disaster, but Negga's role as Lady Taria (again playing opposite Cooper) marked her first big-budget, mainstream film.
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Loving
Despite Warcraft: The Beginning bombing hard at the box office, Negga found herself almost immediately back on top the same year thanks to her truly captivating performance in Loving alongside Joel Edgerton.