Ruth Negga has opened up on the pressures of filming Loving.
The Limerick native stars are Mildred Loving in the film, which follows the true story of an illegal inter-racial marriage in 1950s Virginia.
“I fell in love with this couple so much that I think I actually made it my business to put aside the pressure and perceived responsibility of playing a real woman and one such as Mildred,” she said.
Pressure: Ruth fell in love with Mildred and Richard Loving | FOCUS FEATURES
The actress said that it was “our collective shame” that more people did not know more about Mildred and her husband Richard.
“I really got to the point where I would’ve been furious with myself if I let that debilitate my performance or hinder it in any way. So I kind of pushed that to the side,” she told RTE Entertainment.
“For some reason their story has been neglected by history and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that they were quite quiet activists. I don’t think they set out to be activists, I think they set out to right a wrong – they had been wronged.
“I don’t think they were political activists, they were human activists. What they were really doing were lobbying for the right to go home, it’s extraordinary when you think about that.
“We wanted to tell the greatest love story never told, the greatest American love story, I think it might be in the running for it.”
