Ruth Wilson

Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She is known for her performances as the eponymous protagonist in Jane Eyre (2006), as Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama Luther (2010–2013, 2019), as Alison Lockhart in the Showtime drama The Affair (2014–2018), and as the eponymous character in Mrs Wilson (2018). Since 2019, she has portrayed Marisa Coulter in the BBC/HBO fantasy series His Dark Materials, and for this role she won the 2020 BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actress. Her film credits include The Lone Ranger (2013), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (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, and the Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Stella Kowalski 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 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, Surrey, the daughter of Nigel Wilson, an investment banker, and his wife Mary Metson, a probation officer. 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. 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. She graduated from Nottingham in 2003 and from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (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, helping her teammates fight in the Battle of Pharsalus.