Emilia Jones just became an overnight star after Coda was crowned Best Picture at the 2022 Oscars , making history as the first-ever streaming-only film to win Hollywood’s biggest prize. It was released by Apple TV+ after a bidding war at last year’s Sundance Film Festival ended in a record-breaking US$25 million deal. The success of the movie – named after the acronym for child of deaf adults – is thanks in no small part to the touching performance of Jones as Ruby Rossi, the only hearing member of a deaf family who dreams of being a singer. So what do we know about the 20-year-old British actress? Who were the best and worst dressed stars of the Oscars 2022? She’s been a gifted actor since childhood View this post on Instagram A post shared by EMILIA JONES (@emiliajonesy) Born in 2002 to Welsh singer, radio and television host Aled Jones, Emilia inherited her dad’s ease in front of the camera. She never had formal training, but role played at home as a child, as recounted to The Independent . After attending an improv game class it wasn’t long before the agent running it suggested she audition for One Day at the age of eight – scoring her the role as Jasmine, alongside Anne Hathaway . She then played small parts in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), an episode of smash television series Doctor Who and Utopia (both in 2013). At the same time, she was also performing in the theatre, including big shows like Shrek the Musical (2011) and The Turn of the Screw (2013). How rich is Lady Gaga really? Inside her gigantic net worth Next up, she is set to lead season three of Netflix’s fantasy drama Locke and Key and thriller movie Cat Person , both set to air this year. She pulled out all the stops for her part in Coda View this post on Instagram A post shared by EMILIA JONES (@emiliajonesy) Joining Coda as the lead was a big challenge for Jones, who didn’t know sign language and had never trained as a singer when she was cast. So in addition to professional singing classes, she also spent nine months studying with a sign language teacher, learning not just the language but also the culture and nuances of the deaf community. “I didn’t just want to learn my lines, because I wanted to be able to communicate with (co-stars) Marlee [Matlin], Troy [Kotsur] and Daniel [Durrant] without an interpreter,” she told IndieWire. Not an easy feat given that she was working 75 hours per week for Locke & Key . So she practised during break time there. “One of the crew members once asked me what I was finger-spelling and I was like, ‘Tinder!’”, she joked in an interview with Glamour. But that wasn’t enough for the complex role. Rossi grew up in a fishing family so Jones also learnt to fish. “We’d go out with the fishermen at 3am every morning for two weeks, and then I’d get back smelling like fish guts and I’d be a state and then I’d go into ASL training,” Jones said later. 5 times Will Smith lost his cool and got in trouble She loves a challenge View this post on Instagram A post shared by EMILIA JONES (@emiliajonesy) From Coda ’s Ruby Rossi to Kinsey Locke – one of the three Locke siblings in Locke and Key – to Margot, a university student who has a brief relationship with an older man in Cat Person , Jones clearly enjoys taking on diverse roles. It’s because she always looks for a project that “challenges and educates” her, she told Flickering Myth. “I think even from a young age. Utopia was challenging, it was edgy and different and I loved that. I was getting to do things that I had luckily had no experience to draw from, so that challenged me. I had to put myself in these characters’ shoes,” she said. The luxury lives of Kourtney Kardashian’s children Viola Davis is her current role model View this post on Instagram A post shared by EMILIA JONES (@emiliajonesy) Jones said she never thought too much about what it meant to be a successful actor when she was young, preferring just to focus on her performances. “If I was blown away by someone’s performance, I would think, I look up to you, and follow their career,” she also told Glamour. She currently looks up to Viola Davis , saying that the actress seems “super positive and fun” and appears to have great energy. “She’s a boss and carries the whole crew and cast,” she said to Glamour . “Her performances are always so inspiring and every project is completely different. That’s what I like to look for.” Not just Jada Pinkett Smith – 10 celebrities who suffer from alopecia She does a little dance after completing every project View this post on Instagram A post shared by EMILIA JONES (@emiliajonesy) When a movie or television show’s filming ends, Jones dances. It’s her way of both celebrating and letting it all go – the lines, the concentration, all of the hard work during shooting, she told Flaunt in an interview. She loves soul music and can play guitar View this post on Instagram A post shared by EMILIA JONES (@emiliajonesy) Like her Coda character Ruby, music is important to Jones too. She considers listening to music a big part of her acting process because it “makes her feel so much”, she told reporters at the Golden Globes. “If there is a sad scene, I will put my headphones in and listen to a song,” she added. According to MovieMaker, soul legends Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding are two of the actress’s particular favourites. When she isn’t acting or listening to music, Jones can be found playing guitar or wandering around London. For her part in Coda she even auditioned with a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide on her guitar, according to Vogue . Want more stories like this? Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter .