August 09, 2022
  Posted by Mouza
  Feature, Gallery Update, Photoshoot


‘I wish I could take the credit for the emotion-provoking performances, but to be honest, that’s what draws me to them in the writing and the storytelling. If a project or a script can enthrall me in any way – if it makes me laugh, gives me goosebumps or moves me to tears – then I’m gripped, and I know that it’s going to be worth doing it,’ humbly smiles Gugu Mbatha-Raw, when we meet again, this time virtually on a Zoom call. It’s the beginning of June with hot weather unabashedly filling the streets of North London, with the wi-fi connection having a literal meltdown and cutting off, which from time to time interrupts our light-hearted conversation.

She joins the line from a hotel room in Belfast, having returned from Italy, where she was shooting the anticipated Netflix heist action movie Lift, sharing the screen with comedian Kevin Hart. ‘We just got three weeks left to finish the movie. I’m not going to lie that it’s a bit of back to planet earth here, in Belfast. It was wonderful to be in Italy with the weather, food, and culture and bring that with us to the final three weeks in our imaginations,’ wholeheartedly says the actress.

Gugu’s breakthrough came with the British period drama Belle back in 2013, for which she won the BIFA Award for Best Actress. As a versatile performer, carrying so much gravitas in all her projects, no surprise that numerous roles have followed throughout her successful career on both TV (Black Mirror, The Morning Show, Loki, The Girl Before) and the silver screens (Beyond the Lights, Miss Sloane, Beauty and the Beast, Irreplaceable You, Motherless Brooklyn, Misbehavior, Summerland). Now she’s leading the charge on the highly anticipated eight-episode Apple TV+ thriller Surface, which marks her second time working with the streamer, and Reese Witherspoon’s production company Hello Sunshine. Set in San Francisco, Surface follows Gugu’s character Sophie, a woman who has suffered a traumatic head injury which resulted in a memory loss, believed to be a result of a suicide attempt.

Contrary to her character, Gugu is as open-hearted and joyous as the first time I met her back in May. A travel-worthy Watford Heath, where the cover shoot took place, was also graced by a visit from the likes of Erdem, CHANEL, Bottega Veneta, Louis Vuitton and Roksanda in a wardrobe of dreams. Cups of tea were flowing on set, and classics such as I Wanna Dance with Somebody were blasting through the speakers, with our cover story star embracing different alter egos in front of the camera as the force of nature that she is.

It’s not usually the way I start any conversation, but it’s great to meet a person whose powerful performances made me cry more than once.

Ooh!

I’m saying this as a compliment. Irreplaceable You – I was sobbing, Black Mirror’s San Junipero – you’re right, weeping again. And The Morning Show – where do I even start here? I think you have a superpower if you can make a lasting impact on the audience’s emotions, whether that’d be tears, laughter or even a tingling sense of anxiety.

Those projects that you’ve mentioned that’s just not me. I chose them because they’ve moved me. I remember reading Irreplaceable You and crying on my iPad. I thought I was going to break it. I literally had to stop as I was tearing up. The same happened with San Junipero, and I remember that I got chills when I was first pitched The Morning Show. I wish I could take the credit for the emotion-provoking performances, but to be honest, that’s what draws me to them in the writing and the storytelling. If a project or a script can enthrall me in any way – if it makes me laugh, gives me goosebumps or moves me to tears – then I’m gripped, and I know that it’s going to be worth doing it.

Do you often become easily attached to characters and the script whilst reading it, or does the sense of attachment come in time?

I mean if it’s good… (laughing) If it’s good, the feeling is pretty instant. There’s something there. And it’s usually pretty obvious. It’s like the soul of the piece. And if the soul isn’t there, you can do rewrites and use costumes, accents, and fancy camera angles, but it’s not going to give it its essential heartbeat. Ninety percent of the things aren’t that good. The reality is that the good stuff stands out. [More at Source]

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