Ruth Negga - From Addis Ababa To The Hollywood A-List, Part 1
Currently going down a storm in Apple TV+'s Presumed Innocent, here I talk to the Irish-Ethiopian actress about her remarkable life and burgeoning career.
“Ah, the Oscars!” laughs Ruth Negga. “The simple fact is, nothing can prepare you for them. Not even other awards ceremonies. It’s just extraordinary to be in that theatre surrounded by people that you’re very familiar with but you don’t know in the slightest. You see these great actors whose films you’ve been watching your entire life and just as you’re about to go over and say ‘hello’, you remind yourself that you actually know nothing about them and they sure as hell don’t know anything about you! Weird. But wonderful.”
Weird but wonderful is also a fitting description for what happened to Negga at the 2017 Golden Globes. For when Meryl Streep was presented with the Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, the grand dame of American screen acting used her time on stage to celebrate diversity in the arts. Cue mentions of the Canadian Ryan Gosling, the Israeli-American Natalie Portman and the Ethiopian-born, Irish-raised Ruth Negga…
“What a woman!” the Preacher star gushes unapologetically. “And what a speech! And as for her mentioning me, that’s the most flatteringly surreal moment of my life so far. She even did an Irish accent. Meryl Streep - the term ‘legend’ gets used far too often but it fits her like a glove.”
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