Gugu Mbatha-Raw covers the latest issue of Porter Magazine (net-a-porter.com’s in-house magazine) to promote her role on the Loki series. While Gugu has known Tom Hiddleston since their drama school days, it doesn’t actually sound like Tom was the one who got her the part. It sounds like Marvel approached her about it and she jumped at the chance to work with her mate Tom Hiddleston. Gugu chats about superheroes, studio contracts, the importance of saying no to work you don’t believe in and a lot more. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
She’s walked away from superhero roles in the past. “There have been a few I’ve auditioned for and not got. And one or two [that] I got and turned down. Sometimes [the role] was so secretive, I was like, I’m not signing up to something where I don’t know what it is. Sometimes I wasn’t sure the character was going to have enough layers. Sometimes the tone of the piece just wasn’t to my taste: how the violence is depicted, how the women are represented. Those things are important to me.”
Why ‘Loki’ was appealing: “For a start, it was exciting that Kate Herron was directing all six episodes. Also, having been to drama school with Tom Hiddleston, there was a lovely circle of life about working on something together at this point.”
What Hiddleston was like at RADA: “He was blond. Sort of angelic. He seemed very…. centered is probably the best word”.
She doesn’t care for those multi-film contracts (which Marvel uses): “When you get down to the nitty-gritty of some of these contracts, they can be quite restrictive. You think, ‘Well, is that what I want my life to look like for the next seven years?’” Of course, she won’t comment on the time obligation for Loki or whether her character will return for future installments (everything in the Marvel universe is top secret, including details of the plot), except to say: “I am very comfortable with the commitment I have made.”
Freedom is priceless: “Sometimes I’ve made choices when I think that my agent might be like, ‘Oh!’ But you’ve got to. For me, there is no price on freedom or on your spirit. I don’t want to be doing something for years that is going to break me on a spiritual level that I don’t believe in. Sometimes, you have to take a leap of faith and follow your gut. And if your gut is saying, I feel trapped, you have to listen – otherwise you live with the consequences. That’s when people get cynical.”
She talked a little bit about splitting her time between LA and England, depending on where the work is at the moment. I was curious, so I looked it up: she’s in the second season of The Morning Show, so that’s likely why she was in LA for much of 2020, when she wasn’t in Atlanta filming Loki. But she went back to England to film a movie/series with David Oyelowo and she sounded happy to be back home. As for saying “no” to those big contracts… like, I’ve heard so much about how so many Marvel actors feel so constricted and controlled by those oppressive five-picture or seven-picture contracts, especially when they’re not getting backends from the revenues. I don’t blame actors for walking away from those offers just for that reason. But it also seems like Gugu is leaning too hard into that, at least in this interview, like too much of her personality is wrapped up in “I say no to superhero movies all the time!” It’s humble-braggy.
Cover & IG courtesy of Porter.
Spoiler alert but her character died on the Morning Show so how’s that gonna work? Flashbacks?
She’s a great actress. Loving Loki so far. Tom and Owen have some great chemistry.
She’s so gorgeous and reminds me of a young Kerry Washington. Loved her in The Morning Show… guess they are bringing her back for flashbacks?
Anyway, I admire artists for turning down big things if it isn’t right for them.
I think it’s a huge life decision. Marvel, and now Disney, in many ways owns you once you sign. I think people are naïve if they don’t realize just how much of your life they will control. Of course the rewards are beyond what any of us will ever experience, and I get that too.
SPOILER
So, Jupiter Ascending is just being erased from the collective memory? Understandable.
That off-white dress with the buttons looks perfect for a nice summer day.
We have fresh strawberries and fresh cherries this morning on the veranda. We’ll be relaxing all day as we wait to see what Gugu’s character does with that weapon she grabbed at the end of the last episode of Loki.
SPOILER!
Why is the story about an accomplished black actress centering a white male? Its 2021!!!
it’s an interview about her role in a marvel series. I’m not sure how her answers show that ‘too much of her personality is wrapped up in “I say no to superhero movies all the time!” It’s humble-braggy.’
That seems a strange takeaway.
Agreed! I think her comments make sense in the context of the interview, especially when wondering why she’s decided to join Marvel now. I don’t agree at all with the “humble-braggy” comment.
I thought so as well. Plus she said there are some she tries out for and is rejected. It was basically there are some she wants and doesn’t get, some she gets and doesn’t want and now Loki where everything came together.
ITA with this. She cited legit reasons for turning down those roles. I was already a fan! But I appreciated her taking a moment to acknowledge issues in superhero films like violence and how womxn are represented.
Agree with all of the above. That was NOT humble braggy at all. She seems like a young woman with a clear sense of self, which is something admirable.
I loved her in The Morning Show. She’s stunningly beautiful.
She is stunning
A cool lady
Loki is SUCH a good show. The writing, the acting, the score, all fantastic and totally mesmerizing already. I’m so curious to know where they’re going with the story.
Gugu is being interviewed about her involvement in a Marvel show so I’m not sure how it’s humble-braggy to talk about similar roles in the past that she’s passed on. Seems relevant to the conversation and she’s talking realistically about what a huge commitment many of these roles are.
She was fantastic in “The Morning Show” and deserved all the recognition and awards that Billy Crudup received (the two of them were so, so much better and more alive in their roles than the show even asked of them). But it had to be depressing to film because she was strung out and manic or depressive in every episode.
She was awesome in Belle if you like costume dramas. Face of an angel!
That was where I first heard of her. And, if anyone has kids or just likes Disney, she was Plumette in the live action Beauty and the Beast.
It’s so nice to see more people speak up about turning down work that doesn’t align with who they are or want to be. I’m not in a creative industry, but I completely relate to her saying that you can’t put a price on your spirit. I left a prestigious well-paying job a few years ago (after making it my career) because I reached a point where the work was damaging my spirit. So many people are confused when they learn that I did that, especially if they hear the difference in my salary. There’s so much more to life than money or prestige, I’m happy with my choices and it sounds like Gugu is as well!
I don’t think she was being humble braggy at all. I think she was simply saying she’d had the opportunity and they weren’t good fits for her but Loki was. And her comments were in the context of what she was being interviewed about.
Did you think it was humble bragging when Emily Blunt explained to Howard Stern that she wasn’t interested in being in Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot? And other actors like Jake Gyllenhaal, Matt Damon, Joaquin Phoenix, Olivia Wilde and Carey Mulligan have responded to interview questions by acknowledging their reluctance to be tied to a movie series with multiple obligatory sequels. Were they humble bragging?
“‘I say no to superhero movies all the time!’ It’s humble-braggy.”
But isn’t every second movie a superhero movie at this point?
Anyway first time I saw her was San Junipero. Not a bad first impression, what with it being award winning and all.
Why would Tom have anything to do with getting her the part? That doesn’t sound like him (stepping on casting’s toes because he’s an executive producer? He seems more like a team player). I’m not familiar with anything that would make it true of Gugu either.
Wumni Mosaku also attended RADA while Tom was there. I don’t think he had a hand in her casting either.
Did I miss something?