Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is a British actress from Ashford, England. She has played the title character 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 title character, her real-life paternal grandmother, 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.
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Early life and education
Wilson was born in Ashford, the daughter of Nigel Wilson, an investment banker, and 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, Surrey, 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 in the Tony Livesey 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 (BBC2, 21 February 2008); narration of the documentary The Polish Ambulance Murders (BBC4, 5 February 2008); and the portrayal of a mentally ill doctor in the dramatised documentary The Doctor Who Hears Voices (Channel 4, 21 April 2008).
From 23 July to 3 October 2009, she appeared as Stella Kowalski 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.
From 2010, she appeared in the British psychological police drama Luther as Alice Morgan, a research scientist and highly intelligent individual described by Luther as a narcissist. 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 in 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'".
Other activities
In September 2024, Wilson was named as an ambassador of dementia charity Alzheimer's Research UK.
Honours
Wilson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to drama.
Personal life
Wilson has been in a long-term relationship with an unnamed American writer. In 2023, Wilson stated that, while she does believe in connections and has a strong relationship herself, she doesn't believe in institutions such as marriage.
