‘Surface’: Gugu Mbatha-Raw To Star In Psychological Thriller For AppleTV+
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who you may know fromThe Morning ShowandBeyond the Lights, is about to headline her own TV show.
She’s set to star inSurface, a new psychological thriller for AppleTV+ which hails from creatorVeronica West, who was one of the key people behind the cancelled-too-soon Hulu re-imagining ofHigh Fidelity.
Mbatha-Raw is settling into AppleTV+. She already plays a supporting role onThe Morning Showfor that streamer, and now she’s about to star inSurface, a new thriller that’s also being produced byReese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company. Apple has handed out a straight-to-series order for the series, which is still otherwise entirely shrouded in mystery.
West, whose other writing credits includeUgly Betty,Hart of Dixie,Chicago Fire,Bull, and the upcoming extension of Showtime’sDexter, found a passionate audience with her recent spin onHigh Fidelity, but unfortunately the Disney-owned Hulu chose not to renew it for a second season.Surfaceis her follow-up project; she created and wrote this original series and will serve as an executive producer alongside Witherspoon andLauren Neustadter. Mbatha-Raw will star in the show and serve as a co-executive producer.
I first saw Mbatha-Raw in Bad Robot’s underrated spy comedy seriesUndercoversback in 2010. Since then, she has carved out a solid career in productions ranging fromBlack Mirror(she’s in the wonderful episode “San Junipero”) toBeyond the Lights, the Wachowskis' ambitious sci-fi epicJupiter Ascending, Disney’s live-action remake ofBeauty and the Beast, Ava DuVernay’sA Wrinkle in Time, the puppet-centricThe Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, and this year’s fairy tale dramaCome Away. She’s also set to make her entrance in the realm of mainstream superhero storytelling inLoki, the new Marvel Studios series that’s coming soon to Disney+.
You can read our interview with herhere. Production on Surface is set to begin sometime in2021.
