1. Gugu Mbatha-Raw began acting at the National Youth Music Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and gained acclaim for her roles as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Octavia in Anthony and Cleopatra in 2005 at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw made her West End and Broadway debut portraying Ophelia in Hamlet in 2009.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw had her breakthrough with the British period drama film Belle, for which she won the BIFA for Best Actress.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw has acted in the Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show, and the Disney+ series Loki.
In 2017, Mbatha-Raw was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama.
In February 2021, Gugu Mbatha-Raw was appointed a global Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw was born on 21 April 1983 in Oxford, the daughter of Patrick Mbatha, a South African doctor, and Anne Raw, an English nurse.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw's first name is a contraction of, which means "our treasure" in isiZulu.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw's parents separated when she was a year old, and she lived mostly with her mother.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was educated at The Henry Box School, a state comprehensive school in the market town of Witney in Oxfordshire, where she was raised.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw's credits include dancing at the Judy Tompsett School of Dance, now known as the Marsh Tompsett School of Dance.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw appeared as Octavia in Antony and Cleopatra in 2005 at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, and had one of her early dramatic breakthroughs later that year at the Royal Exchange in Romeo and Juliet, in which she starred opposite Andrew Garfield.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw next had minor roles on the television series Bad Girls and Marple before taking on a recurring role on Doctor Who in 2007.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw played Tish Jones, the sister of Martha Jones, companion to the Tenth Doctor, in four episodes, most prominently in "The Lazarus Experiment".
In 2009, Gugu Mbatha-Raw was cast as Ophelia in Hamlet on London's West End and Broadway, opposite Jude Law as Prince Hamlet.
In June 2011, Gugu Mbatha-Raw was cast as the female lead on the Fox television series Touch, opposite Kiefer Sutherland.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw had a supporting role in the romantic comedy Larry Crowne, written and directed by Tom Hanks.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was named one of 42 "Brits to Watch" by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw garnered praise for her performance in Amma Asante's film Belle, playing the eponymous historical character Dido Elizabeth Belle, a mixed-race woman raised as a gentlewoman in her paternal uncle Lord Chief Justice Mansfield's household in 18th-century England.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Actress.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw starred as a pop singer in the romantic drama Beyond the Lights, which debuted at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 2014 Gotham Awards.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was recognized in 2014 by Elle's Women in Hollywood Awards, honoring women for outstanding achievements in film.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw starred opposite Matthew McConaughey in Free State of Jones, directed by Gary Ross.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw played Knight's common-law wife, Rachel, a freedwoman he had a family with after the Civil War.
In 2016, Gugu Mbatha-Raw was one of the two leads in "San Junipero", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror, and played a major supporting role in Miss Sloane, a drama about Washington lobbyists starring Jessica Chastain.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 Birthday Honours, for services to drama.
In 2021, Gugu Mbatha-Raw was appointed a global Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
In November 2021, Gugu Mbatha-Raw was cast in the romantic film Nobody's Heart with Edgar Ramirez, directed by Isabel Coixet.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw has "always loved art", and considered becoming an artist instead of an actor.