Gugu Mbatha-Raw is now in season 2 of Apple TV+ show Surface
The new series of Surface is now streaming on Apple TV+.
The actress was born at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington and grew up in Witney.
READ MORE: Emma Watson’s childhood in Oxford
Her parents met at the Churchill Hospital and they divorced when Ms Mbatha-Raw was three.
Surface, made by Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s media company, offered the actress the chance to come on board as an executive producer.
She enjoyed playing a bigger role in the creative process including helping to choose the creative team and have more of a say about the script.
The series investigates identity, trust and trauma. While the first series was set in San Francisco the second is set in the UK.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Image: Apple TV+) In the first series, after surviving a suicide attempt Sophie, played by Ms Mbatha-Raw, has lost her recent memories including the reason why she decided to jump from a ferry boat crossing San Francisco Bay, and she tries to piece together the reasons for her attempted suicide.
The second series now boasts a bigger cast, including Joely Richardson and Tara Fitzgerald.
Ms Mbatha-Raw has never publicly discussed her private life.
“It’s a way to have longevity as an artist,” she told the Observer.
“If people have too many ideas about your world, it dilutes the work.
“I’m thankful to have a perspective that isn’t just pushing yourself out there, simply for the sake of being present.”
The actress made her name in a 2009 production of Hamlet opposite Jude Law, followed by the 2013 film Belle.
Two years later, she was nominated for an Evening Standard award for her performance in Jess Swale’s play Nell Gwynne, about an orange seller who became the mistress of Charles II.
Future projects include Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, and Inheritance, a Sky Original which addresses legacies of slavery and colonialism.
Filming will take place in Bristol and Jamaica, and the actress is about to fly to the Caribbean for two months.
“It’s going to be a conversation provoker and I’m excited for the conversation,” she said.
Missed a copy of the Oxford Mail you wanted? Here’s what to do https://t.co/n1aacoWEDF
— Oxford Mail (@TheOxfordMail) May 13, 2024
When it comes to relaxing, she likes to watch nature documentaries.
She added: “Something where there’s no acting. That fish is just being itself – swimming in the ocean. That’s relaxing to me.”
Ms Mbatha-Raw attended Henry Box School in Witney and because she interested in performing and the arts from a young age she was part of the National Youth Theatre.
In 2001, she went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), one of the UK’s leading drama schools, to train.
