Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Biography:

Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw, MBE, is an English actress who was born on April 21, 1983. She started her acting career at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the National Youth Music Theatre. In 2005, she won praise for her performances as Octavia in Anthony and Cleopatra and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. In 2009, she made her Broadway and West End debuts as Ophelia in Hamlet. She was nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for her performance as the title character in Jessica Swale’s 2015 play Nell Gwynn.

She made her television acting debuts in Touch (2012), Undercovers (2010), and Doctor Who (2007). In addition to appearing in supporting parts in Miss Sloane (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), A Wrinkle in Time (2018), Motherless Brooklyn (2019), and Misbehaviour (2020), she received praise for her major roles in Belle (2013) and Beyond the Lights (2014). She starred in The Morning Show (2019), the Disney+ series Loki (2021–2023), the Netflix Black Mirror episode San Junipero (2016), and the Apple TV+ drama series Surface (2022–).

For her services to drama, Queen Elizabeth II named Mbatha-Raw a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2017. Mbatha-Raw was named a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) global goodwill ambassador in February 2021.