John Lamparski/WireImage(NEW YORK) — Ruth Negga’s captivating performance in the new historical drama Loving has Hollywood buzzing.
The film is based on the true story of real-life couple Mildred and Richard Loving, who fought to invalidate laws prohibiting interracial marriage in the 1960s. Negga was recently a guest on ABC’s Popcorn with Peter Travers show, in which she talked about her approach to playing Mildred.
“I think what we want to do with our film is share Mildred and Richard’s story. Because I think that we want to honor and celebrate them as a couple and as individuals for struggling for nine years to contribute to the American civil rights cannon,” said Negga.
While Negga’s TV fans may be familiar with her work on the hit ABC series Agents of Shield and AMC’s newcomer Preacher, it’s the portrayal of Mildred Loving that is thrusting Negga further into the spotlight, with early rumblings of a possible Oscar nomination. Travers asked if the rumblings were validating.
“Oh yeah, hugely. It’s the Oscars. I mean that’s completely intimidating,” said Negga. “But it’s lovely because it means people are seeing the film and they’re reacting to it. And it’s resonating with them. And that means that we’ve all done our job. So it’s thrilling. And it means that more people will know about this couple. I genuinely mean that is very important for all of us. To me, movies encourage a shift in consciousness. And ours seems to be having that response.”
Loving is currently out in theaters.
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