Ashley Judd

Ashley Judd played Ruby Lee Gissing in Victor Nunez's Ruby in Paradise, a young woman who gets out from under her father's influence, moves to a beach town on the Florida panhandle and takes work in retail. Nunez had trouble selling the script to financiers, who told him the story was too familiar, too European, or not hip enough for the audience of the day. After weighing three actresses he agreed to meet Judd, who had been out of town when the first auditions were held. The part won her the Independent Spirit award for best female lead, and the film shared the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in January 1993 with Public Access. A Time to Kill, Kiss the Girls and Double Jeopardy came later, and the 2014 Divergent later still.