Glamour magazine: Who will be HUGE in 2015? We predict the rising movie & TV stars for 2015 - Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Who will be HUGE in 2015? We predict the rising movie & TV stars for 2015

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

First, let us discuss the pronunciation of her incredible name – it’s said Goo-Goo Mbah-tah Raw. With that out the way, let us discuss Mbatha-Raw’s impressive credentials. She first attracted attention in period drama Belle, documenting the life of real-life historical figure Dido Elizabeth Belle. This year, she has a supporting role in Jupiter Ascending with Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum and The Whole Truth with Renee Zellweger and Keanu Reeves. Earlier this month, she was named one of BAFTAs Rising Star nominees. Start practicing her name now.

2010 Video: Zap2it on the Scene: 'Undercovers' Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Zap2it on the Scene: 'Undercovers' Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Uploaded on 21 Sep 2010

'Undercovers': Meet Gugu Mbatha-Raw, the 'brilliant' Samantha Bloom @Zap2it http://bit.ly/cygxuU

'Undercovers': Meet Gugu Mbatha-Raw, the 'brilliant' Samantha Bloom 

By Jethro Nededog

Sep 21st, 2010

We're one day away from the premiere of NBC's "Undercovers" on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. ET and we still have a couple more people we'd like you to meet.

Next up,  Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who plays Samantha, one-half of the Blooms, the spy couple who you'll come to care about very much. "Dr. Who" fans already know Mbatha-Raw from when she played recurring character, Tisha Jones. Now as one of the leads of the new NBC show, Mbatha-Raw tells Zap2it that despite all the hype around the new J.J. Abrams show, she's not nervous.

"I'm really excited actually," she says. "I kind of generally speaking try to change nervous energy into adrenaline and excitement in any situation, so I'm really looking forward to it."

This is the British actress' first foray into American TV and she's not taking it for granted. "A year ago, I had never been to America," she says. "So, yeah, this is a crazy experience, but an amazing one."

In "Undercovers," Mbatha-Raw plays Samantha Bloom, an ex-spy who's drawn back into the game along with her husband, Steven (played by Boris Kodjoe), when their friend goes missing. While other spy shows may have the ongoing "Will they? Won't they?" romantic thread, this show cuts to the chase. That doesn't mean that there isn't some romantic entanglement that goes on, though.

"It's still complicated by the dynamic of Leo [played by Carter MacIntyre]," Mbatha-Raw tells us. "Who is also one of their fellow agents who used to date Samantha. So, there are a few complications there. And secrets emerge as we go through the series about other characters and other relationships of the past. So, yeah, it's not as simple as it seems at first.

When you meet Samantha, we think you'll like her. Besides being gorgeous, she has all kinds of other things going for her.

"She's so warm and so caring, but she's also very strong," says Mbatha-Raw. "We get to do all these fight scenes and I get to run through the streets of Venezuela and knock people out with things. She's just brilliant. She's athletic and she's kind of creative in the kitchen, as well. She's really quite a multifaceted character."

Follow Zap2it and TheRealJethro on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

Video credit: Jethro Nededog, Zap2it

Video: Gugu Mbatha-Raw Channels Whitney Houston in 'Beyond the Lights'

Gugu Mbatha-Raw Channels Whitney Houston in 'Beyond the Lights'Published on 3 Oct 2014

ET's Nancy O'Dell sat down with rising star Gugu Mbatha-Raw to get her take on the comparisons being made between her upcoming film Beyond the Lights and Whitney Houston's classic 1992 film The Bodyguard.

Gugu nominated for the EE Rising Star Award

EE BAFTAS

GUGU 
MBATHA-RAW

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About the nominee

Born in Oxford, Gugu Mbatha-Raw trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her first professional role was in an Open Air production of As You Like It, as Celia. Following this, Mbatha-Raw landed roles at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. She performed in Antony and Cleopatra and played the title role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, which gained her a nomination for Best Actress for the Manchester Evening News Awards in 2005.

Mbatha-Raw’s other stage credits include the critically-acclaimed Big White Fog at the Almeida Theatre and Gethsemane, a production at the National Theatre that later toured the UK. She made her West End debut as Ophelia inHamlet opposite Jude Law; the production transferred to New York’s Broadhurst Theatre for a limited run and was a hit on Broadway in 2009.

Her television credits include Spooks, Dr Who, Marple – Ordeal by Innocence, Bonekickers and Fallout. It was for this latter role that she was selected as a 'Star of Tomorrow 2008' by industry magazine, Screen International. In 2010 she starred as Samantha Bloom in the NBC series,Undercovers, which gained her a nomination for an NAACP award for Best Actress in a Television Series.

In film, she worked with directors such as Dominic Savage and Dan Reed before landing her first major feature film. Larry Crowne, directed by Tom Hanks and co-starring Julia Roberts was released on July 1st, 2011.

In June 2011, Gugu landed the female lead as social worker Clea Hopkins opposite Kiefer Sutherland in the FOX series Touch. The cast also included Danny Glover and David Mazouz.  The same summer, she was recognised at the BAFTA’s Brits To Watch event in Los Angeles.

Gugu starred alongside Willem Dafoe and Anton Yelchin in the Stephen Sommers directed film Odd Thomas, and then went on to play the title role in the period drama Belle, (Fox Searchlight) alongside Miranda Richardson, Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Sam Reid and Matthew Goode. The film was produced by Damian Jones and directed by Amma Asante. The role earned her nominations in two categories, Best Actress and Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards.

In 2013 she shot a role in Andy and Lana Wachowski’s Jupiter Ascending, which stars Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis and Eddie Redmayne.  Warner Bros and Village Roadshow Pictures will release the film in February 2015. She went on to shoot The Whole Truth directed by Courtney Hunt alongside Keanu Reeves and Rene Zellweger.

Gugu stars alongside Minnie Driver, Nate Parker and Danny Glover in Beyond The Lights, a love story set in the LA music world directed by Gina Prince Bythewood which was released in the US on 14th November.  The role has so far earned her a Best Actress Nomination at the Gotham Awards.

She is currently filming opposite Will Smith in a yet-to-be-titled drama about concussions in the NFL directed by Peter Landesman.

Filmography

Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Famulus

Beyond the Lights (2014)
Noni

Belle (2013)
Dido Elizabeth Belle

Odd Thomas (2013)
Viola Peabody

Larry Crowne (2011)
Talia Francesco

See full Filmography

Search for films starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the Film Store

Gugu Mbatha-Raw - EE Rising Star Nominee 2015

Rita Ora receives her first Oscar nod as her track Grateful is nominated for Best Original Song which features in Beyond the Lights

She's Hot Right Now! Rita Ora receives her first Oscar nod as her track Grateful is nominated for Best Original Song

By NOLA OJOMU FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 17:49, 15 January 2015 | UPDATED: 20:26, 15 January 2015

She is hoping to expand her career into the world of acting with a role in the upcoming bonk buster, Fifty Shades.

And Rita Ora has even more to celebrate after she received her first ever Oscar nomination on Thursday afternoon.

The singer received a nod in the Best Original Song category as for her track, Grateful, which features on the film, Beyond the Lights.

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Reaching new heights: Rita Ora has even more to celebrate after she received her first ever Oscar nomination on Thursday afternoon

Written by acclaimed songwriter, Diane Warren, the song faces stiff competition from Lost Stars - which featured in Keira Knightley’s Begin Again, Everything is Awesome – which featured in The Lego Movie and I’m Not Gonna Miss You – which featured in Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me.

She is also up against John Legend and Common’s Selma soundtrack song Glory, which just won a Golden Globe award.

The singer made a humble reference to the nomination on Twitter as she congratulated Diane saying: 'Congrats @Diane_Warren'.

Red hot: The singer - pictured at the Golden Globes on Sunday - received a nod in the Best Original Song category as for her track, Grateful, which features on the film, Beyond the Lights

In good company: Written by acclaimed songwriter, Diane Warren, the song faces stiff competition from Lost Stars - which featured in Keira Knightley’s Begin Again, Everything is Awesome – which featured in The Lego Movie, I’m Not Gonna Miss You – which featured in Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me and John Legend and Common’s Selma soundtrack song Glory, which just won a Golden Globe award

Should she bag the gong at the award ceremony on next month, she will technically have managed to win an Oscar before the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp and Tom Cruise.

Nominations for the much-anticipated awards ceremony were announced by actor Chris Pine, award-winning directors JJ Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron, and Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

Felicity Jones, Rosamund Pike and Keira Knightley are among the British actors to have been nominated for this year's Oscar Awards, along with Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch.

It has been one of the most successful years in history for homegrown actors and actresses, with more than a handful being nominated in the top categories for the most prestigious movie awards of them all.

Chris Pine announces the 2015 Oscar nominations

Big announcement: Nominations for the much-anticipated awards ceremony were announced by actor Chris Pine, award-winning directors JJ Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron, and Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs

The big prize: Should she bag the gong at the award ceremony on next month, she will technically have managed to win an Oscar before the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp and Tom Cruise

Leading the way are Best Actress nominees Felicity and Rosamund, who will go head-to-head in the hotly-contested category.

It is the first Oscar nominations for both Felicity and Rosamund, who have impressed in their movies The Theory Of Everything and Gone Girl respectively. 

Also up for an Oscar this year is awards season favourite Eddie Redmayne, who has impressed audiences and critics across the world for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything. 

Both The Theory Of Everything and The Imitation Game are also potential winners in the Best Picture category. 

Another major player is Keira Knightley, Benedict's Imitation Game co-star, who has a Best Supporting Actress nod.

Happy girl: The How We Do hitmaker is currently dating Tommy Hilfiger's son, Ricky Hil

Lady in Red! Rita Ora is glam at Golden Globes afterparty

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2912015/She-s-Hot-Right-Rita-Ora-receives-Oscar-nod-track-Grateful-nominated-Best-Original-Song.html#ixzz3Ovx9BMOH
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Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw Mixes Escapism and Provocation in Beyond the Lights

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, photographed in Beverly Hills.

BY AMY FINE COLLINS

OCTOBER 23, 2014 2:17 PM

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAN WELTERS

In Beyond the Lights, Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Noni Jean, a pop diva literally and figuratively caught inside a gilded cage. For a raunchy music video, Noni writhes inside a golden harness; at an awards show, she shimmies down the red carpet in a peekaboo chain-link bodice. But thanks to the intervention of a good cop (portrayed by Nate Parker), Noni eventually liberates herself from the gaudy restraints of fame, revealing, Mbatha-Raw says, “the human side of the fantasy girl.”

Both the Oxford-born actress and her director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, intend for Beyond the Lights to “change the conversation” about how the entertainment industry packages its female talent. “The culture has reached a new low for women,” Mbatha-Raw says. “There’s no more mystique. Everything is out there to be consumed.” To research the heroine, who is manipulated by a toxic stage mom and greedy handlers, the 31-year-old nurse’s daughter studied superstars past and present: Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Beyoncé, Prince, Rihanna. Mbatha-Raw—the lead earlier this year in the period drama Belle—had to reject her Royal Academy of Dramatic Art training, practicing gyrations in front of mirrors and learning to stare directly at the camera. “It was cringe-worthy! It took me a very long time to look myself in the eye!” she says. And, yes, the soundtrack features Mbatha-Raw’s own voice; she has been performing musically since age 11, when she played Dorothy onstage in The Wizard of Oz.“Beyond the Lights is entertainment and escapism,” she notes. “But it is also meant to push buttons and provoke. That’s what art is for.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAN WELTERS

Filed under:

 

BEYOND THE LIGHTS

 

GUGU MBATHA-RAW

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Shailene Woodley and Margot Robbie lead the nominations for 2015 BAFTA Rising Star Award

Shailene Woodley and Margot Robbie lead the nominations for 2015 BAFTA Rising Star Award... as British actor Jack O'Connell is also revealed to be in the running

By LUCY MAPSTONE FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 10:36, 7 January 2015 | UPDATED: 14:49, 7 January 2015

It's one of the hottest awards an up-and-coming young actor or actress can win.

The hopefuls for the 2015 EE BAFTA Rising Star Award have been revealed, with the likes of Hollywood stars Shailene Woodley and Margot Robbie leading the way.

British stars Jack O'Connell and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are also in the running for the top prize, as well as American actor Miles Teller.

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Rising Star hopefuls: Shailene Woodley (left) and Margot Robbie have both received nominations for the prestigious BAFTA Award

The award is given every year at the BAFTAs for outstanding actors and actresses who have demonstrated a promising talent, and it serves as a good indicator for those who will go on to have illustrious careers.

This year's hopefuls were revealed by Stephen Fry and are a mixed bag, but each with with critical acclaim and strong performances under their belt.

US star Shailene Woodley, 23, has impressed audiences and critics with her appearances in hit films such as The Fault In Our Stars and Divergent.

Brit star: Jack O'Connell, pictured at the BAFTA announcement on Wednesday, is already an acclaimed actor, and is now up for the 2015 EE Rising Star Award

Stiff competition: Hopefuls Miles Teller (left) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (right) have also been chosen by the jury for the accolade

Stephen Fry announces the EE Rising Star Nominees 2015

Her breakthrough role was in the Oscar-winning The Descendants alongside George Clooney, but it was her role in teen adventure film Divergent that really put her on the map.

She has already been praised by the industry and has won a few top accolades, including an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress, an MTV Movie gong and a handful of Film critic awards, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award.

The busy star is currently also working on Divergent sequels Insurgent and Allegient, and she'll also be starring alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt in new flick Snowden. 

A job well done: Shailene Woodley has been praised for her role in films such as The Descendants, Divergent and The Fault In Our Stars (above)

Gun-toting Shailene Woodley in action-packed Insurgent trailer

Australian actress Margot Robbie, 24, made audiences sit up and take notice when she starred in Martin Scorse's critically acclaimed The Wolf Of Wall Street, as the female lead alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. 

However, she was first known for her role as Donna Freedman in TV soap Neighbours for which she received two Logie Award nominations.

After holding her own in the big-hitting Hollywood movie last year, she is set to appear as an up-and-coming artist alongside Will Smith in new flick Focus. 

British actor Jack O'Connell, 24, has also received the nod and is one of the hopefuls for this year's Rising Star Award.

Promising star: Margot Robbie wowed as her portrayal of the wronged wife in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf Of Wall Street alongside Leonardo DiCapri

Will Smith and Margot Robbie get intimate in raunchy 'Focus'...

He has been known in the UK for some time after appearing on gritty teen series Skins back in 2007, but he has achieved international status after being cast in Unbroken by the film's director Angelina Jolie.

The young actor has also appeared in - and been praised for - Belfast-based thriller '71, and British indie film Starred Up, for which he also received several top award nominations. 

Speaking of being nominated, Jack said: 'Thank you to BAFTA and the jury. I'm honoured to be considered for the EE Rising Star Award amongst such a talented field; especially for films which I feel incredibly fortunate to have been a part of.'

As well as the BAFTA nod, Jack has also recently been given the Breakthrough Performance award by the National Board of Review for his roles in Starred Up and Unbroken, and is also nominated for the Best British Actor of the Year prize by the London Critic's Circle. 

True potential: Jack O'Connell was handpicked by Angelina Jolie to appear in her latest directorial effort, Unbroken

Watch the new trailer for Angelina Jolie directed movie Unbroken

Another Brit on the list is Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who has been on the movie scene since 2011 when she appeared in Larry Crowne alongside Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, which garnered her a place on BAFTA's Brits to Watch list.

Since then, she has appeared in movies Odd Thomas and period drama Belle, which earned her the Best Actress award and a nomination for Most Promising Newcomer at last year's British Independent Film Awards.

The 31-year-old hopeful's most recent appearance is in Beyond The Lights opposite Minnie Driver, and she also has a credible TV career under her belt, after having appeared on shows such as Spooks, Dr Who and Marple - Ordeal By Innocence.

'I am delighted to be nominated for the EE Rising Star Award,' she said of the BAFTA nod. 'It is such an honour to be recognised for a growing body of work and I am proud and excited to be included.' 

Brit hopeful: Gugu Mbatha-Raw (right) has appeared in several TV shows and movies so far in her career, including 2013's critical success Belle (above)

Minnie Driver stars as pushy Mum in film Beyond The Lights

Finishing up the list of talented young actors is American star Miles Teller who has made waves in the industry following roles in movies such as Divergent, Project X and 21 & Over.

But it's his latest performance in the acclaimed Whiplash that has put him firmly on the movie star map: the drama received the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and he also got a Best Actor nomination at the 2014 Gotham Awards.

Overwhelmed upon receipt of the BAFTA nomination, he said: 'Thank you BAFTA for the nomination! I'm very proud to represent Whiplash and all those who worked incredibly hard on such a wonderfully fulfilling gem of a film. The ovation it received at the London Film Festival remains one of my proudest moments as a young actor.'

This will be the 10th year of the EE Rising Star Award, which has previously been won by the likes of now-successful Hollywood heavyweights Kristen Stewart, Tom Hardy, Eva Green, Shia LeBeouf and James McAvoy. Last year's winner was British actor Will Poulter, who has achieved success in films such as We're The Millers, Son Of Rambow and The Maze Runner. 

The five potential Rising Stars were chosen by a jury of BAFTA members and industry experts, but the winner can now be voted for by the public.

The result will be revealed at the EE British Academy Film Awards ceremony on February 8.

Proud star: Miles Teller - pictured in Whiplash - has revealed how honoured he is at being nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award

Miles Teller stars in upcoming jazz drama Whiplash

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2900220/Shailene-Woodley-Margot-Robbie-lead-nominations-2015-BAFTA-Rising-Star-Award-British-actor-Jack-O-Connell-revealed-running.html#ixzz3OAc5hKYy
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