Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw, MBE (/ˈɡuːɡuːəmˈbætərɔː/; born 21 April 1983) is a British actress who began her training at the National Youth Music Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She received critical attention for her performances as Juliet in *Romeo and Juliet* and Octavia in *Anthony and Cleopatra* at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in 2005. She made her West End and Broadway debut in 2009 as Ophelia in *Hamlet*. In 2015, she portrayed the titular character in Jessica Swale's play *Nell Gwynn*, earning a nomination for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress.

Mbatha-Raw's early television appearances include a role in *Doctor Who* (2007), the NBC series *Undercovers* (2010), and FOX's *Touch* (2012). She gained wider recognition with her performance in the British period drama film *Belle* (2013), for which she won the BIFA for Best Actress. Following roles in *Beyond the Lights* (2014) and *Miss Sloane* (2016), she co-starred in the Emmy Award-winning *Black Mirror* episode "San Junipero" (2016), which was widely praised. Her other film roles include *Beauty and the Beast* (2017), *A Wrinkle in Time* (2018), *Motherless Brooklyn* (2019), *Misbehaviour* (2020), and *Summerland* (2020). She also appeared in the Apple TV+ drama series *The Morning Show* (2019) and the Disney+ series *Loki* (2021–present).

In 2017, Mbatha-Raw was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to drama. In February 2021, she was named a global Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).