Ruth Negga's Acting

Wow, I was so in love with her quiet dignity. Her facial expressions were so emotive. She was able to convey so many emotions with the slightest gesture. I think she is Oscar worthy. My guess is that they were both emulating the real couple, and that fact may be what annoyed you more than her acting skills. I love the film.

Hey everyone, the original poster thinks that Negga's performance was dry and lifeless and that the demeanor and spirit of African Americans in 1958 was all goody goody. Even more so for an interacial couple that was harassed every way to Sunday from sun up to sundown by cowards hiding behind badges, judgeships and Jim Crow laws.

I didn't see her performances In that way at all. She conveyed dignity, class, reservation, and quiet strength in a performance so beautifully nuanced. I hope she gets an Oscar nomination; it would be well-deserved.

Imagine being an African American woman (married to a white man) in the South in the 50s-60s. You learn to deal with emotions by keeping them in, or internalizing, otherwise you'd get in trouble or fall apart basically. You have to be strong because it's the only way you survive, so you learn to suppress and "soldier on."

It makes sense that it's not her nature in that time period and in that region to be this giddy, extroverted woman. She did not have that luxury. Edgerton's character was a white man so his function was much different in society.

I thought both actors were excellent at inhabiting their characters and you can empathize with both of their point of views. Her emotions reside in her eyes and her restraint, like the phone call scene. Sometimes restraint can be more powerful in a film because the emotion is not dictated to the audience in an obvious way. Her outward display of grace and patience/resilience through everything showed me that she was emotionally strong. Just because she appears poised on the outside, doesn't mean she isn't a deeply feeling person inside

her performance was alright nothing special, she will get nominated cause of nature of film and weak competition but there is no chance she's going to win. I have only seen trailer for fences but Viola Davis seems electric.
This movie will get 3-4 nominations but it's not going to win anything and deservingly so

I agree with you on Ruths acting. After i read the raves she got she was the first reason i wanted to see the film, but It is a disappointment of the year so far from me. Sure she has beautiful face and eyes, BUT in my opinion she hasnt used them like she should/could. She had one facial expression threw the whole film, and while Joel Edgerton was also not that good(he overracted a bit and was miscast) i still prefer his work since he at least tried to do something with his character. I mean do not get me wrong i prefer subtle performances to the loud ones, but just compare Ruths work with for an example Amy Adams in Arrival or Isabelle Huppert in Elle, where they used EVERY SECOND of screentime to express what their characters are/were feeling, while Ruth just looked at the floor threw the whole film. What irritated and shocked me the most was the fact that she had plenty of time and space to do something with her character, yet it feels like she hasnt even tried, or never went deeper to show us what Mildred really was and what or how Mildred really felt. To me it seems like she never understands the character at all and I also thing its a great example of an actor who does not know how to play or handle his/hers character. All the most important scenes in the film her character has no real(or different) expression, and its hard for audiences to connect with her and also to understand her character and what she went threw. Its also not a realistic work>> when for an example she was in the prison, she had just one facial expression and then the same one when at the end she is hearing the great news. Its a very dry, stiff and nothing performance that i guess was overprized and overrated because of the early buzz of the film, right after Oscarssowhite(im talking about Cannes reviews) thing and the fact that she has very sweet, innocent yet beautiful face. Yep, she bassicly got the raves on how she looks in real life. But when we aks ourselfs what had she brought to the role....the answer is NOTHING! If she gets the nomination for this then Edgerton should win an Oscar and Amy Adams, Isabelle Huppert, Sonia Braga and Sandra Huller should all win Nobel Prizes for acting. But anyway i do not think that either she or the film will get Oscar noms, especially Ruth since there are bigger names, with bigger buzz, better reviews and more passion(Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Annette Bening, Meryl Streep, Isabelle Huppert, Amy Adams and Taraji P. Henson and thats already 7 contenders)

Disagree. Pretty brilliant, actually. She and Edgerton both so real I felt as if I were watching the real life Lovings. I like her on the tv series Preacher so maybe I'm partial.

I thought she did great portraying Mildred. Filled with hope on the inside and battling the heartbreak of the world on the outside, I thought she played it perfectly. That scene where her face literally quivered after going back to Virginia the second time, had me. Joel did a great job as well, I don't see how they both don't get nominated for an Academy Award.