Partner Sites
Current Projects Site InformationGugu is one of multiple celeberties featured in the book The Endings. From the publishers website:
Featuring some of today’s most beloved actors, these piercing photographic vignettes capture female characters in the throes of powerful emotional transformations. Photographer Caitlin Cronenberg and art director Jessica Ennis collected stories of heartbreak, relationship endings, and new beginnings—fictional but often inspired by real life—and set out to convey the raw emotions that are exposed in those most vulnerable of states. Collaborating with celebrated stars, Cronenberg and Ennis developed each character, built her world, and then photographed as she lived the role before the camera. The resulting collection is a bold look at the experience of losing or leaving love and will speak to anyone who appreciates art, photography, and the strength of facing emotional depths head-on.
A friend was able to order the book and managed to send us scans of Gugu’s pages and I’ve updated the gallery with copies of them.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s acting portfolio boasts roles like a bonnet-wearing 18th-century aristocrat in Belle, a violet-haired pop star in Beyond the Lights, and a futuristic astronaut in The Cloverfield Paradox, to name a few. It’s impossible to predict whom the 35-year-old is going to play next—and that’s just how she likes it. “No one wants to be stuck in a box,” Mbatha-Raw says. “I have a short attention span and want to keep myself interested. Variety is the spice of life, and I never want to get bored.”
At our New York City shoot, she is in full-on storytelling mode, assigning personalities to the many hats she tries on. An oversize green Mulberry topper is “very My Fair Lady,” a straw-bow Delpozo style is appropriately dubbed Minnie Mouse, and a wide-brimmed Elie Saab design is so “Anne of Green Gables” that Mbatha-Raw jokes she should go get some honey from her bees as she poses.
There’s no doubt that Mbatha-Raw loves what she refers to as the dress-up element of getting into character, but when it comes to her hair and makeup, she prefers to keep things simple. “I feel most beautiful when I’m not being perceived as beautiful,” she says over coffee in Brooklyn a few days after our shoot. “If I’m not thinking about what I look like, then I’m just happy and free to be myself.” Growing up in rural Oxfordshire, “a million miles away from Hollywood or any big city,” she was raised by her English mom, a nurse, and her South African dad, a doctor, to “nurture the soul, spirit, and intelligence rather than the exterior.” That notion has stuck with Mbatha-Raw, so it’s been a process for her to accept the value placed on appearance in the entertainment industry. “I’ve had to come to terms with the concept of beauty without judging it as a vacuous thing,” she says. “My image is part of my job, but I’m getting more comfortable with knowing that it doesn’t define who I am or mean that I’m a superficial person. It’s about expressing yourself.” [More at Source]
Gugu is on the cover of the April issue of British Vogue! She looks amazing photographed by Mikael Jansson and styled by senior contributing fashion editor Kate Phelan, with hair by Eugene Souleiman and make-up by Hannah Murray, the portrait of Mbatha-Raw wearing Valentino, marks Gugu’s Vogue debate. Check out the photos and digital scans and maek sure to watch the video (under a read more cut because it autoplays).
Digital Scans > April 2018 – British Vogue
Photo Sessions > 2018 > Set 006<
With a huge thanks to Aina for the tip, Gugu is featured in the February issue of Essence magazine. She looks gorgeous in the shoot inspired by her idols Prince, Billie Holliday, Angela Davis, and Cleopatra! Check out the full shoot included in the digital scans and the article.
Gugu is on the cover of New York Moves Magazine. She looks amazing! Check out the digital scans, shoot & some outtakes!
Digital Scans > November 2017 – Move Magazine
Photo Sessions > 2017 > Set 008
Sorry for the delay everyone as I had some problems with the site access. I’ve updated the gallery with the latest shoots and scans that featured Gugu.
Photo Sessions > 2016 > Set 002
Photo Sessions > 2016 > Set 003
Digital Scans > January 2016, Vanity Fair
Digital Scans > May 2016 – Marie Claire
