Ruth Negga has said she drew on her deep connection to Ireland to identify with her character in her upcoming Oscar-tipped movie Loving.
The star, who was born in Ethiopia and raised in Limerick, has been generating substantial Oscar buzz for her performance in Jeff Nichols' drama.
Loving tells the story of Mildred Jeter (Negga) and Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton), an interracial couple living in Virginia in the 1950s who must fight for their right to marry. After eloping to Washington DC to get married with they arrested after returning back to Virginia and sentenced to a year in prison.
Speaking about how she identified with her character, Negga told Vogue, "Virginia isn't that different from Ireland.
"Land and home and community are super important. When I was playing her, I tried to imagine I couldn't go home again because of whom I married. It must have drained the lifeblood from her."
The former Love/Hate star went on to discuss her first encounter with racism saying she didn't experience it until she moved to London.
"When I was a kid in Ireland, there were not very many black people. I was very much like the strange brown thing, intriguing and cute," she said. "I didn't experience racism there. The first time I did was in London. It was that moment that you realize you're black. A kind of lifting of the veil."
Negga was the first person director Nichols auditioned for the role and he revealed that he thought she was too petite when he first met her, but her acting abilities soon changed his mind.
"She spoke in Mildred's voice. She held her mouth like Mildred," he said. "I wasn't looking for star power. I was looking for great actors."
Loving is released in Irish cinemas in February 2017.
