The Moment of Ruth

Buried deep in Ruth Wilson's family tree is a storyline so intriguing, it would make many writers salivate.

The paternal grandfather of the British actress was novelist  and MI6 officer Alexander Wilson, whose life was shadowed in such secrecy that the offspring of his four marriages knew little of each other — or of his life as a spy.

"To find that someone in your family was deeply complicated — I found it fascinating," she says. "Having all those families and constantly having to re-create or redefine himself and live in a constant lie must have been torturous for him."

Ironically, the same could be said for her alter ego, Alison Lockhart of Showtime's The Affair, a woman more than familiar with reinvention and deceit. Wilson has earned rave reviews — and a Golden Globe — for playing the complex heroine, who is by turns a mother mourning the loss of her child and an adulterous wife.

The role has tested the thespian — a graduate of the famed London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (alums include Richard Harris, Benedict Cumberbatch and Chiwetel Ejiofor) — like none other during her decade-plus career on screen.

"It was relentless grief that I was going through," she says of her first-season arc. "That was really hard, to be in that state the whole time. But that's the frustration of being with a character — the ingrained behavior they can't break free of. As an actor, you want them to move on."

But Wilson craves challenge and describes herself as something of a "thrill-seeker," much like her grandfather. As one of four children of an investment banker father and probation officer mother in an otherwise conventional Catholic home, she launched her acting career in her native England, "auditioning for everything and getting rejected every day."

Eventually, she landed the part of sexually precocious teen Jewel Diamond opposite Tom Hiddleston in the Channel5 sitcom Suburban Shootout.

That led to the titular role as Jane Eyre in the critically acclaimed four-part 2006 BBC miniseries.

Wilson became better known to American audiences as the charmingly murderous stalker Alice Morgan on Luther, the British series that has earned a cult following Stateside.

As for a possible return to Luther for a rumored movie or fifth season, she remains coy. "She'll pop up somewhere, I'm sure," the actress teases. "She's definitely not dead. She's always hanging around in the background."

Along the way, Wilson wove in as much theater work as possible, with two Olivier Awards to show for it, for Anna Christie and A Streetcar Named Desire. "I like to go back to the stage often," Wilson says. "It's like a physical need to put yourself in front of a live audience and be in your body. I miss that when I'm in front of the camera."

Wilson will soon embark on a revamped third season of The Affair, which begins shooting in August in New York. The structure of the series, which morphed from dueling perspectives in season one to expanded narratives in season two, is expected to change dramatically once again. Wilson is game, as long as she can wrap her head around Alison's psyche.

"I approach characters always looking for the motivation, for why they act in that manner," she says, And understanding the impetus behind her enigmatic grandfather is something she's still wrestling with.

"His kids loved him, but the women in his life all suffered. So even though it's cool and interesting, his life was quite intricate."