# Ruth Wilson

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 (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 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. 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. She attended Riverside Youth Theatre in Sunbury-on-Thames where she appeared in productions of The Curse of Fladsham House and The Wyrd Sisters. 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, and TV gameshow Traitor.

## Career

Prior to her role in Jane Eyre, Wilson had one professional screen credit, in Suburban Shootout, 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) for ITV, and Stephen Poliakoff's BBC television drama Capturing Mary as the young Mary.
Wilson appeared in Gorky's Philistines in 2007, playing Tanya, at the Royal National Theatre 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 in the Donmar Warehouse revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. On 15 November 2009 AMC Television and ITV premiered the 2009 TV miniseries 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, 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 Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse alongside Jude Law. 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 and Hagai Levi. 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. 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 I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, directed by Oz Perkins, premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. From December 2016 to February 2017, Wilson starred in the title role of Hedda Gabler in a new version by Patrick Marber at the Royal National Theatre. 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 Mrs Wilson. 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 the executive producer for the series.
In October 2020, Wilson won the BAFTA Cymru Award 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' Tony Award-winning play Oslo.
Wilson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to drama. In November 2023, it was announced that she would star as Emily Maitlis in the series A Very Royal Scandal.
In September 2024, Wilson was named as an Ambassador of dementia charity Alzheimer's Research UK.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | Get Off My Land | Woman | Short film |
| 2012 | Anna Karenina | Princess Betsy Tverskoy | |
| 2013 | The Lone Ranger | Rebecca Reid | |
| 2013 | Saving Mr. Banks | Margaret Goff | |
| 2013 | Locke | Katrina (voice) | |
| 2015 | Suite Française | Madeleine Labarie | |
| 2015 | Eleanor | Eleanor | Short film |
| 2016 | The Complete Walk: All's Well That Ends Well | Helena | Short film |
| 2016 | I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House | Lily | |
| 2017 | How to Talk to Girls at Parties | PT Stella | |
| 2017 | The Dying Hours | Ellie | Short film |
| 2017 | Dark River | Alice Bell | |
| 2018 | The Little Stranger | Caroline Ayres | |
| 2021 | True Things | Kate | Producer |
| 2022 | See How They Run | Petula Spencer | |
| 2024 | Family | | Completed, executive producer |
| TBA | The Book of Ruth | Ruth Coker Burks | Pre-production |
| TBA | Andorra | Miss Quay | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2003 | Time Commanders | Herself | Episode: "Pharsalus" |
| 2004 | Traitor | Herself | Episode 5 |
| 2006 | Jane Eyre | Jane Eyre | Miniseries, 4 episodes |
| 2006–2007 | Suburban Shootout | Jewel Diamond | 10 episodes |
| 2007 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Georgina Barrow | Episode: "Nemesis" |
| 2007 | Capturing Mary | Young Mary | Television film |
| 2007 | A Real Summer | Mary / Geraldine | Television film |
| 2008 | Freezing | Alison Fennel | Episode: "#1.2" |
| 2008 | The Doctor Who Hears Voices | Dr. Ruth | Television film |
| 2009 | Small Island | Queenie | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 2009 | The Prisoner | 313 / Doctor | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
| 2010–2019 | Luther | Alice Morgan | 13 episodes |
| 2014–2019 | The Affair | Alison Bailey | Main role, 42 episodes |
| 2017 | Reported Missing | Narrator | Series 1, 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Mrs Wilson | Alison Wilson | Miniseries, 3 episodes, executive producer |
| 2019–2022 | His Dark Materials | Marisa Coulter | Main role, 21 episodes |
| 2020 | James and the Giant Peach with Taika and Friends | Earthworm | Miniseries, 1 episode |
| 2021 | Oslo | Mona Juul | Television film |
| 2023 | The Woman in the Wall | Lorna Brady | Main role, 6 episodes, executive producer |
| 2024 | A Very Royal Scandal | Emily Maitlis | Miniseries, 3 episodes |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue(s) |
| 2005 | Good | | Sound Theatre |
| 2007 | Philistines | Tanya | Lyttelton Theatre / Royal National Theatre |
| 2009 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Stella | Donmar Warehouse |
| 2010 | Through a Glass Darkly | Karin | Almeida Theatre |
| 2011 | Anna Christie | Anna Christie | Donmar Warehouse |
| 2013 | The El Train | Mrs Rowland, Rose | Hoxton Hall |
| 2015 | Constellations | Marianne | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre |
| 2016–2017 | Hedda Gabler | Hedda Gabler | Royal National Theatre |
| 2019 | King Lear | Cordelia / Fool | Cort Theatre |
| 2022 | The Human Voice | Woman | Harold Pinter Theatre |
| 2023 | The Second Woman | Virginia | The Young Vic |
| 2025 | A Moon for the Misbegotten | Josie Hogan | Almeida Theatre |

### Radio

| Year | Title | Role | Channel |
| 2008 | The Mayor of Casterbridge | Elizabeth-Jane | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2009 | The Promise | Lika | BBC Radio 3 |
| 2009 | The Lady of the Camellias | Marguerite Gautier | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2010 | Spitfire! | Daphne | BBC Radio 4 |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
| 2007 | British Academy Television Award | Best Actress | Jane Eyre | Nominated |
| 2007 | Broadcasting Press Guild | Best Actress | Jane Eyre | Nominated |
| 2007 | Golden Globe Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film | Jane Eyre | Nominated |
| 2007 | Satellite Award | Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | Jane Eyre | Nominated |
| 2010 | Satellite Award | Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | Luther | Nominated |
| 2010 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | A Streetcar Named Desire | Won |
| 2012 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actress | Anna Christie | Won |
| 2014 | Golden Globe Award | Best Actress – Television Series Drama | The Affair | Won |
| 2015 | Satellite Award | Best Actress in a Drama Series | The Affair | Nominated |
| 2015 | Tony Award | Best Leading Actress in a Play | Constellations | Nominated |
| 2015 | Theatre World Award | Theatre World Award | Constellations | Honoree |
| 2017 | Satellite Award | Best Actress in a Drama Series | The Affair | Nominated |
| 2017 | British Independent Film Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film | Dark River | Nominated |
| 2017 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actress | Hedda Gabler | Nominated |
| 2019 | British Academy Television Award | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Mrs Wilson | Nominated |
| 2019 | British Academy Television Award | Best Mini-Series | Mrs Wilson | Nominated |
| 2019 | Broadcasting Press Guild | Best Actress | Mrs Wilson | Nominated |
| 2019 | Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | King Lear | Nominated |
| 2019 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | King Lear | Nominated |
| 2019 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actress in a Play | King Lear | Nominated |
| 2020 | BAFTA Cymru | Best Actress | His Dark Materials | Won |
| 2021 | British Independent Film Award | Best Actress | True Things | Nominated |
| 2021 | Stockholm International Film Festival | Best Actress | True Things | Won |
| 2021 | Satellite Award | Actress in a Miniseries, Limited Series or Motion Picture made for Television | Oslo | Nominated |
| 2023 | BAFTA Cymru | Best Actress | His Dark Materials | Nominated |
| 2024 | RTS Northern Ireland Television Awards | Best Actor – Female | The Woman in the Wall | Won |