Ruth Wilson says ‘its really hard’ to age naturally in film industry

Actress Ruth Wilson has said it is really hard to age naturally while in her industry as “the pressure is on” to have cosmetic surgery.

The 43-year-old English actress, known for Luther, stars alongside Emma Thompson in psychological thriller Down Cemetery Road that follows Sarah Trafford (Wilson), a concerned neighbour who teams up with private investigator Zoe Boehm (Thompson) to search for a girl who went missing after a house explosion.

Speaking on the How To Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, Wilson said she finds it difficult to age naturally in the film industry because cosmetic procedures are available “now more than ever” and “everyone does it”.

Wilson said: “It’s really hard because the pressure is on.

“Everyone does something to their face, and it’s all available now more than ever.

“You either choose to join your peers and put stuff in your face and I don’t think it makes you look younger. It just makes you look like you’ve had stuff done.

“If you look at people who are 60/70, and someone’s had work and someone hasn’t, they don’t really look different ages. They just look like someone’s had work and someone hasn’t had work.

“So it does feel like you have to make a choice, and I don’t know, it’s difficult in my industry.”

Wilson is known for portraying Margaret Goff in Saving Mr. Banks, Jane Eyre in the eponymous series, and she took home the best actress in a television series Golden Globe for The Affair in 2015.

She added: “If I wasn’t an actor, I wouldn’t, I don’t think I’d think twice about the idea of having work done just because you have to look at your face.

“Your face is on a poster. It’s on a lens and you’re pumped up to this size. Your face is made bigger in a cinema screen. You know, you’re like, oh, you can see yourself ageing.”

Wilson will reunite with actor Idris Elba in a second Luther film, reprising her role as the detective’s murderous sidekick Alice Morgan with Dermot Crowley returning as Detective Superintendent Martin Schenk.

The Netflix film will continue the story of haunted rogue Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, played by Elba, following five critically acclaimed series on the BBC and a movie released in 2023.