Gugu Mbatha-Raw Biography

Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha (born 21 April 1983), known as Gugu Mbatha-Raw (pronounced ), is an English stage and film actress.

Working in British television and stage productions, she first gained prominence in a recurring role in Doctor Who, playing Tish Jones, sister of Martha Jones. She garnered attention in American productions, beginning with a supporting role in the Tom Hanks comedy Larry Crowne, and starring roles in the short-lived television series Undercovers and Touch. She earned critical acclaim for her performances in the British period drama Belle (2013) and the romantic drama Beyond the Lights (2014), receiving numerous accolade nominations from critics worldwide.

In 2015 Mbatha-Raw premiered the title role in Jessica Swale's play Nell Gwynn, as an actress and mistress of King Charles II of England. She was nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance.

Early life

Mbatha-Raw was born in Oxford, England, in 1983 and grew up in the town of Witney in Oxfordshire. Her surnames are those of her father and mother, and her forename is the shortened version of "Gugulethu", a contraction of igugu lethu that means "our treasure " in Zulu.

Her mother, Anne Raw, is an English nurse, and her father, Patrick Mbatha, is a doctor originally from South Africa. Mbatha-Raw attended the Henry Box School and participated in the National Youth Theatre, having been interested in acting, dance, and musical theatre from a young age. In 2001 she moved to London to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2001.

Career

Early career

Mbatha-Raw played minor roles on television series such as Bad Girls (2006), Doctor Who, (2007) and Marple (2007). One of her earliest breakthroughs in drama was in Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester in 2005, playing Juliet opposite Andrew Garfield as Romeo. Mbatha-Raw was nominated for best actress in the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards for her portrayal of Juliet. She also played Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra at the same theatre in 2005.

In 2009, Mbatha-Raw was cast as Ophelia in Hamlet opposite Jude Law in the titular role. In September 2010, she was cast in J. J. Abrams' television series Undercovers, after he spotted her in Hamlet. The series was cancelled two months later.

In June 2011, Mbatha-Raw was cast as the female lead in the Fox pilot Touch opposite Kiefer Sutherland. She had a supporting role in the romantic comedy film Larry Crowne (2011), written and directed by Tom Hanks, who starred in the title role. She was also named a Brit to Watch by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

2013-present

Mbatha-Raw gained praise starring in Amma Asante's film Belle (2013), playing the eponymous historical character, Dido Elizabeth Belle, a mixed-race woman raised as a gentlewoman in her paternal uncle's household, Chief Justice in 18th-century Britain.

The film debuted at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival where it was acquired by Fox Searchlight. It was released in 2014. Mbatha-Raw was nominated for numerous awards for her performance, including two British Independent Film Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film, which she won, and Most Promising Newcomer. She was also nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Actress.

In 2014, Mbatha-Raw also starred in Beyond the Lights. The film debuted at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. For her work in Beyond the Lights, Mbatha-Raw was nominated for Best Actress at the 2014 Gotham Awards.

In 2014, Mbatha-Raw was recognized by Elle Magazine during the Women in Hollywood Awards, honoring women for their outstanding achievements in film. These awards span all aspects of the motion picture industry, including acting, directing, and producing.

In recognition of her body of work, Mbatha-Raw was nominated in 2015 for a BAFTA Rising Star Award. That year, she had a supporting role in the epic space opera Jupiter Ascending.

On 3 July 2015, it was announced that Mbatha-Raw would be the first to play the title role in Jessica Swale's Nell Gwynn playing the actress who became the mistress of King Charles II of England; it premiered at Shakespeare's Globe from 19 September to 17 October 2015. She was nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance.

Also in 2015, she appeared in the biopic Concussion, starring Will Smith. It is the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic neuropathologist who first discovered extensive brain damage in NFL players due to concussions, and tried to put a stop to practices that contributed to the condition. She played Prema Mutiso, the wife of Dr. Omalu. The film premiered at the 2015 AFI Festival.

Mbatha-Raw starred opposite Matthew McConaughey in an American biopic on Newton Knight, a yeoman farmer and resister of the Confederacy, in The Free State of Jones (2016), directed by Gary Ross. She plays Knight's common-law wife Rachel, a freedwoman he had a family with after the Civil War.

Other projects

In 2015 she was also cast in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast as Plumette.

In October 2015, it was rumored that Mbatha-Raw will appear in Star Wars: Episode VIII in an undisclosed role.

In December 2015, Mbatha-Raw was confirmed as a guest star for an episode of Black Mirror.

In January 2016, Mbatha-Raw was rumoured for a supporting role in Miss Sloane, starring Jessica Chastain.

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood announced in March 2016 that Mbatha-Raw would star in her adaptation of Roxane Gay's novel An Untamed State.

Personal life

Mbatha-Raw was in a relationship with actor Harry Lloyd until 2012.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Holby City	Collette Hill	Episode: "Overload"
2005	Walk Away and I Stumble	Nurse	Movie
2006	Vital Signs	Eve	5 episodes
2006	Bad Girls	Fidelity	2 episodes
2007	Doctor Who	Tish Jones	4 episodes
2007	Doctor Who Confidential	Herself/Interviewee	Episode: "The Valiant Quest"
2008	Lost in Austen	Piranha	2 episodes
2008	Bonekickers	Viv Davis	6 episodes
2008	Trial & Retribution	Jenny Miller	Episode: "The Box: Part 1"
2009	Fallout	Shanice Roberts	Part of Channel 4's Disarming Britain series
2010	Undercovers	Samantha Bloom	Main role (all 13 episodes)
2012	Touch	Clea Hopkins	13 episodes (season 1)
2016	Black Mirror	TBA	Episode: "San Junipero"
2016	Easy		Netflix series

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Larry Crowne	Talia
2012	Odd Thomas	Viola
2013	Belle	Dido Elizabeth Belle
2014	Beyond the Lights	Noni Jean
2015	Jupiter Ascending	Famulus
2015	Concussion	Prema Mutiso
2016	The Whole Truth	Janelle
2016	Free State of Jones	Rachel
2017	Beauty and the Beast	Plumette	In post-production
2017	Miss Sloane	Esme Manucharian	In post-production
2017	God Particle		Filming

Other works

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Notes
1999	Into the Woods	Cinderella's Mother (u/s Rapunzel)	National Youth Music Theatre
2005	Antony and Cleopatra	Cleopatra	Royal Exchange in Manchester
2005	Romeo and Juliet	Juliet Capulet	Royal Exchange in Manchester
2008	Gethsemane	Monique	National Theatre
2009-10	Hamlet	Ophelia	Donmar West End and Broadway	Opposite Jude Law
2015	Nell Gwynn	Nell Gwynn	Shakespeare's Globe

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Living with the Enemy	Sophie/Various	BBC Radio 4, broadcast 14 November - 19 December 2006
2009	Choice of Straws	Michelle	BBC Radio 4, Saturday Play, broadcast on 19 September 2009

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2011	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in Drama	Undercovers
2012	Black Reel Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance	Larry Crowne
2014	African-American Film Critics Association	Best Actress	Belle
	Alliance of Women Film Journalists	Best Breakthrough Performance	Belle
	British Independent Film Awards	Best Actress	Belle
	Capri, Hollywood	Capri Rising Star Award	Beyond the Lights
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Most Promising Performer	Belle
	Chicago International Film Festival	Emerging Artist Award	Beyond the Lights
	Detroit Film Critics Society	Breakthrough Artist	Beyond the Lights
	Florida Film Critics Circle	Pauline Kael Breakout Award	Belle
	Gotham Independent Film Awards	Best Actress	Beyond the Lights
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress	Belle
2015	British Academy Film Awards	EE Rising Star Award
	Black Reel Awards	Outstanding Actress	Belle Beyond the Lights
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress	Belle
	London Film Critics Circle	British Actress of the Year	Belle