Ruby Jean Cruz (born March 31, 2000) is an American actress. She has acted in various short films and television series including ''

Mare of Easttown ''Mare of Easttown'' is an American crime drama limited series created and written by Brad Ingelsby for HBO. Directed by Craig Zobel, the series premiered on April 18, 2021, and concluded on May 30, 2021, consisting of seven episodes. It star ...

'' and ''

Castle Rock Castle Rock may refer to: Geography Islands * Castle Rock (Alaskan Island), an island off the coast of the U.S. state of Alaska * Castle Rock, Hong Kong (螺洲白排), an island of Hong Kong, part of the Po Toi Islands * Castle Rock (Massachusett ...

,'' and most notably as Kit Tanthalos in ''Willow''. In 2023, she made her feature length movie debut as Hazel Callahan in '' Bottoms,'' directed by

Emma Seligman Emma Seligman (born May 3, 1995) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for their feature directorial debut '' Shiva Baby'' (2020). Career As a teenager, Emma Seligman contributed film reviews to '' The Huffington Post''. They s ...

Career

Ruby Cruz was born to actor and musician

Brandon Cruz Brandon Edwin Cruz (born May 28, 1962) is an American actor and singer best known for his role as Eddie Corbett, son of widower Tom Corbett (played by Bill Bixby) on the television series ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father''. Cruz is also a pun ...

and Liz Cruz, an entrepreneur. Cruz grew up in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

, and began auditioning for film and television roles in high school. She studied theater at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

before dropping out to pursue her acting career. In 2018, Cruz played the younger version of

Lizzy Caplan Elizabeth Anne Caplan (born June 30, 1982) is an American actress. Her first acting role was on the television series ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000). She received wider recognition with roles in the films ''Mean Girls'' (2004) and ''Cloverfi ...

's character,

Annie Wilkes Annie Wilkes is the main antagonist in the 1987 novel '' Misery'', by Stephen King. In the 1990 film adaptation of the novel, Wilkes was portrayed by Kathy Bates, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. A nurse by trainin ...

, in ''Castle Rock''. Cruz received praise from ''

TVLine ''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs. History In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving ''EW'' after nearly two years in their employ to es ...

'' for the way she captured Caplan's physicality. In 2020, Cruz appeared in season 10 of ''Blue Bloods''. In 2021, Cruz appeared as Jess Riley in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

drama series ''

''. Later that year, Cruz was cast as Kit Tanthalos, the first openly lesbian Disney princess, in the television series ''Willow''. The show, which premiered in November 2022, acts as a sequel to the 1988 film of the same title. In 2023, she appeared alongside

Rachel Sennott Rachel Anne Sennott (born September 19, 1995) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her online comedy television series ''Ayo and Rachel Are Single'' with Ayo Edebiri and for starring roles in the films ''Shiva Baby'' (2020) ...

and

Ayo Edebiri Ayo Edebiri ( ; born October 3, 1995) is an American comedian, writer, producer and actress. She appeared on Comedy Central's ''Up Next'' and co-hosts the podcast ''Iconography'' with Olivia Craighead. Edebiri is best known as a voice actor on ''B ...

in '' Bottoms'' as Hazel Callahan, a co-founder of a high school fight club for girls.

Personal life

Cruz identifies as queer. Her father is American former actor and punk musician

. Her mother, Elizabeth "Liz" Cruz ( Finkelstein), is an entrepreneur, whom her father married in 1994 and later divorced. She has one older brother, Lincoln, born 1995.

Filmography

Television

Films

Music Videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Ruby 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American LGBT people Living people Actresses from Los Angeles American television actresses American queer actresses American actresses American LGBT actresses 2000 births