Well,Gugu Mbatha-Rawfinally has her own TV show, and to be honest, it’s about damn time.
The 37-year-old English actress has signed on to star in the psychological thrillerSurface, which puts her back in business with Apple, where she recently played a key role onThe Morning Show. That show’s star,Reese Witherspoon, will produce Mbatha-Raw’s new project.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, butSurfacehails fromVeronica West, who co-created Hulu’sHigh Fidelityseries starringZoe Kravitz, and perhaps more tellingly, will serve as a co-executive producer on Showtime’s upcomingDexterrevival. Apple gave the eight-episode show a straight-to series order, and production is slated to start in 2021.
Surface marks the third project between Apple and Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine banner, which is also behind theOctavia SpencerdramaTruth Be Toldand the music competition seriesMy Kind of Country. I may have missedTruth Be Toldthis year, but I was a big fan ofThe Morning Show, and Mbatha-Raw’s performance especially.
I’ve been following her career for more than a decade, ever since she was cast onJ.J. Abrams' seriesUndercovers. And I know she was the female lead on that show, but she was hardly “Gugu Mbatha-Raw” yet, as American audiences had little familiarity with her. She has blossomed into a true star since those days, andSurfacesounds like a great opportunity for her, though I do wish that the notoriously secretive Apple had released a logline.
Surfacewill arrive on the heels of Mbatha-Raw’s Marvel seriesLoki, and there may be another streaming series she has a small role in that has yet to be announced for some reason. The actress earned raves for her turns in the “San Junipero” installment ofBlack MirrorandAmma Asante’sBelle, and she recently worked with first-time directorsEdward NortonandJulia HartonMotherless BrooklynandFast Color, respectively. Her feature credits also includeA Wrinkle in Timeas well asBeauty and the Beast, and she’ll soon be seen as the lead inSeacoleoppositeSam Worthington.
To find out where “San Junipero” ranks on our list of the bestBlack Mirrorepisodes,click here.
