Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She has played the eponymous protagonist in '' Jane Eyre'' (2006), Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama '' Luther'' (2010–2013, 2019), Alison Lockhart in the Showtime drama '' The Affair'' (2014–2018), and the eponymous character in ''

Mrs Wilson ''Mrs Wilson'' (formerly known as ''The Wilsons'') is a 2018 British historical drama serial, executive-produced by and starring Ruth Wilson. The actress plays her real-life grandmother, a widow who uncovers a mysterious and secret life followi ...

'' (2018). From 2019 to 2022, she portrayed Marisa Coulter in the BBC/HBO fantasy series '' His Dark Materials'', and for this role she won the 2020

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

Award for Best Actress. Her film credits include '' The Lone Ranger'' (2013), ''

Saving Mr. Banks ''Saving Mr. Banks'' is a 2013 biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock from a screenplay written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Centered on the development of the 1964 film ''Mary Poppins'', the film stars Emma Thompson as author ...

'' (2013), ''

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House ''I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House'' is a 2016 gothic supernatural horror film written and directed by Osgood Perkins. It stars Ruth Wilson as a live-in nurse who suspects her elderly employer's house may be haunted, and also features ...

'' (2016), and '' Dark River'' (2017). Wilson is a three-time Olivier Award nominee and two-time winner, earning the Best Actress for the title role in ''

Anna Christie ''Anna Christie'' is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work. According to historian Paul Avrich, the orig ...

'', and the Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of

Stella Kowalski Stella Kowalski (née DuBois) is one of the main characters in Tennessee Williams' play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. She is the younger sister of central character Blanche DuBois and wife of Stanley Kowalski. In the play The play begins when Bla ...

in '' A Streetcar Named Desire''. She is also a two-time Tony Award nominee for her performances in '' Constellations'' and '' King Lear'' on Broadway. She has won a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for her role in ''The Affair'' and received nominations for a British Academy Television Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for the title role in '' Jane Eyre''.

Early life

Wilson was born in

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom * Ashford, Kent, a town ** ...

, Surrey, the daughter of Nigel Wilson, an investment banker, and his wife Mary Metson, a

probation officer A probation and parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probati ...

. She has three older brothers: Tobias "Toby" Wilson, Samuel "Sam" Wilson (a BBC journalist), and Matthew Wilson. She is the granddaughter of novelist and MI6 officer Alexander Wilson and his third, bigamously-married, wife, Alison (née McKelvie). Her paternal great-grandmother was Irish. Wilson grew up in Shepperton, Surrey, and was raised as a Catholic. She attended Notre Dame School, an independent Catholic school for girls located in Cobham, before attending sixth form at

Esher College Esher Sixth Form College is an open access, non-selective 16-19 Academy located in Thames Ditton, Surrey, England. Rated as "outstanding" in September 2022 by Ofsted, it now has around 2100 students enrolled, with a catchment drawn from north ...

. As a teenager, she worked as a model. She studied History at the University of Nottingham, and while there was also involved in student drama at the

Nottingham New Theatre The Nottingham New Theatre is a playhouse and production company based on University Park Campus, Nottingham, England. It is funded in part by the University of Nottingham Students' Union and constitutes one of the Union's 10 Student-Run Servi ...

. She graduated from Nottingham in 2003 and from the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. LAMDA's Principal is ...

(LAMDA) in July 2005. Afterwards, she co-founded Hush Productions. During her time at Nottingham, she participated in the TV war strategy game ''

Time Commanders ''Time Commanders'' is a technological game show that originally aired on BBC Two from 4 September 2003 to 13 March 2005 with Eddie Mair hosting the first series and Richard Hammond hosting the second series. It returned for a 3-part special on ...

'', helping her teammates fight in the Battle of Pharsalus, and TV gameshow Traitor.

Career

Prior to her role in '' Jane Eyre'', Wilson had one professional screen credit, in ''

Suburban Shootout ''Suburban Shootout'' is a British satirical black comedy television series produced for Channel 5 and Paramount Comedy by Feelgood Fiction in association with Oxygen. The first series aired in the UK on Channel 5 from 27 April 2006. It bega ...

'', a situation comedy she appeared in with Tom Hiddleston. In 2006–2007, she filmed the second series of ''Suburban Shootout'', a new '' Agatha Christie's Marple'' mystery (''

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...

'') for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, and

Stephen Poliakoff Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" who had "inherited Dennis Potter's crown". Early ...

's BBC television drama ''

Capturing Mary ''Capturing Mary'' is a BBC television drama (co-produced by HBO), written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, starring Maggie Smith, David Walliams, Ruth Wilson and Danny Lee Wynter. It was aired on BBC Two on 12 November 2007. It is linked, ...

'' as the young Mary.
Wilson
appeared in Gorky's ''Philistines'' in 2007, playing Tanya, at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

from May until August. In June, she presented the 2007 Lilian Baylis Awards. Other projects in 2007 included a guest appearance in the sitcom '' Freezing'' as Alison Fennel (transmitted on BBC2, 21 February 2008); narration of the documentary ''The Polish Ambulance Murders'' (transmitted on BBC4, 5 February 2008); and the portrayal of a mentally ill doctor in the dramatised documentary ''The Doctor Who Hears Voices'' (transmitted on UK Channel 4, 21 April 2008). From 23 July to 3 October 2009, she appeared as

Stella Stella or STELLA may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Comedy *Stella (comedy group), a comedy troupe consisting of Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black and David Wain Characters *Stella (given name), including a list of characters with th ...

in the Donmar Warehouse revival of '' A Streetcar Named Desire.'' On 15 November 2009 AMC Television and

premiered the 2009 TV

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

remake of '' The Prisoner'', in which Wilson played the Village doctor, "No. 313". She played "Queenie" in an adaptation of Andrea Levy's '' Small Island'', which aired on BBC1 in December 2009 and also aired in the United States on PBS in 2010. Since 2010, she has appeared in the British psychological police drama '' Luther'' as Alice Morgan, a research scientist and highly intelligent individual described by Luther as a narcissist. In September 2012, the series' creator,

Neil Cross Neil Cross ( Neil Claude Gadd; born 9 February 1969) is a British novelist and scriptwriter, best known as the creator of the drama series ''Luther'' and ''Hard Sun''. He is also the showrunner for the TV adaptation of '' The Mosquito Coast'', ...

, announced that he was in the process of creating a spin-off of ''Luther'' centred on Wilson's character, though as of 2018 this has not happened. Cross stated, "The BBC is very interested in the project. The only real question would be how many and how often we would do it – whether it would be a one-off miniseries or a returning miniseries, a co-production or not." While Wilson could not appear in series four of ''Luther'' due to filming clashing with ''The Affair'', she returned for series five. From 4 August to 8 October 2011, Wilson starred in the title role of Eugene O'Neill's ''

'' at the Donmar Warehouse alongside

Jude Law David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He received a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2007, he received an Honorary Césa ...

. Her performance prompted '' The Guardian'' to devote an editorial to Wilson's "courageous, edgy and compelling talent". In 2014, Wilson began starring as Alison Bailey on the drama television series '' The Affair'', created by

Sarah Treem Sarah Treem is an American TV writer-producer and playwright. She is the co-creator and showrunner of the Showtime drama ''The Affair'', which won the Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Drama Series, and was a writer and co-executive producer o ...

and

Hagai Levi Hagai Levi ( he, חגי לוי; born on 2 July 1963) is an Israeli television creator, writer, director, and producer. Early life and education Levi was born in Sha'alvim, Israel in 1963. He studied psychology at Bar-Ilan University but left to ...

. She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in January 2015 for her performance in the series' first season. She departed the series in 2018 after four seasons. It was reported in December 2019 that Wilson's departure was due to "frustrations with the nudity required of her, friction with Treem over the direction of her character, and what she ultimately felt was a 'hostile work environment. Wilson made her Broadway debut in '' Constellations'', a play written by Nick Payne, at the

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, formerly the Biltmore Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 261 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the neo-Renaissa ...

. She starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal throughout the play's run from 12 January to 14 March 2015. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play for her performance. Her film ''

'', directed by Oz Perkins, premiered at the

2016 Toronto International Film Festival The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown. Awards The festival's final awards were ...

. From December 2016 to February 2017, Wilson starred in the title role of Hedda Gabler in a new version by

Patrick Marber Patrick Albert Crispin Marber (born 19 September 1964) is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor, and screenwriter. Early life Marber was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Wimbledon, London, the son of Angela (Benjam ...

at the

. The production, and Wilson's performance in particular, received critical acclaim. In November 2018, Wilson starred as the title character Alison Wilson—her real-life grandmother—in the BBC drama ''

''. Alison Wilson was the third of four wives of former MI6 officer and novelist Alexander Wilson. They were married for 22 years. After his death in 1963, Alison discovered another wife of her husband's, with whom she eventually collaborated on the funeral. In order not to create extra shock for his children, the other wife and her children attended the funeral as 'distant relatives'. Alison died in 2005 without knowing he had had two further wives. Ruth Wilson was also executive producer for the series. In October 2020, Wilson won the

BAFTA Cymru Award BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

for Best Actress for her portrayal of Marisa Coulter in ''His Dark Materials''. In November 2020, it was announced that she would be starring as Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul in a filmed version of

J. T. Rogers J. T. Rogers is a multiple-award-winning, internationally recognized American playwright who lives in New York. Rogers has written several plays including ''Oslo'', '' Blood and Gifts'', ''The Overwhelming'', ''White People'', and ''Madagascar''. ...

' Tony Award-winning play ''Oslo''. Wilson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the

2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to drama. In November 2023, it was announced that she would star as Emily Maitlis in the series '' A Very Royal Scandal''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Radio

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ruth 1982 births Living people Actresses from Surrey Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Alumni of the University of Nottingham Audiobook narrators Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners English people of Irish descent English people of Scottish descent English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English voice actresses Laurence Olivier Award winners Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Notre Dame School, Surrey People from Ashford, Surrey People from Shepperton Theatre World Award winners 21st-century English actresses