Larry CrowneAn Exclusive Interview with Gugu Mbatha-Raw
By Wilson Morales
June 27, 2011
After appearing in several British television series either as a regular or in minor roles such as Bad Girls (1999), Doctor Who (2005) and Marple (2007), actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw came to the United States in 2009 and starred as Orphelia on Broadway in Hamlet opposite Jude Law.
Since then, the Oxford native has gone to Hollywood and landed some major roles. She was cast opposite Boris Kodjoe in the NBC spy series ‘Undercovers,’ which sadly was cancelled in late 20101 after 11 episodes due to low ratings.
Coming up next is a role opposite Oscar winners Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in ‘Larry Crowne.’ a dramatic comedy about how the hard knocks from today’s recession inspire one everyday guy to undergo a personal reinvention.
Also featured in the film are Bryan Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Wilmer Valderrama, Pam Grier, Rami Malek, George Takei, and Rita Wilson.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Mbatha-Raw talks about her role in ‘Crowne,’ the cancellation of ‘Undercovers,’ her upcoming supernatural thriller ‘Odd Thomas,’ and her return to TV with the Fox series ‘Touch,’ co-starring Keifer Sutherland and Danny Glover.
In the last year and a half you’ve been everywhere from TV to the big screen, and now you have a big film coming up with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw: Yeah, it’s been a whirlwind of a year, from Broadway to TV to movies. Yeah, I’ve had a great time.
How would you describe your character in ‘Larry Crowne’?
Mbatha-Raw: I play Talia Francesco, who’s a very vivacious and quite impish, free spirited character. She’s one of the students at the community college where Tom Hank’s character, Larry Crowne, enrolls as a mature student when he loses his job. And she scoops him up in the scooter park. She is a member of a scooter gang, along with her boyfriend played by Wilmer Valderrama. She takes him and sees that he’s in need of a little bit of rejuvenation. She styles his clothes a little bit and gives him the confidence to sort of take his life in a new direction.
She’s a free spirited woman!
Mbatha-Raw: She is totally a free spirit, exactly. She was really fun to play, and as I say, she’s got quite a Kutchi dress sense and a very bubbly personality. So, we had a lot of fun.
This is a big role for you. Did you audition for this or did Tom Hanks request that you be in the movie?
Mbatha-Raw: I did audition for it. I’d just completed the pilot of ‘Undercovers’ last year with J. J. Abrams and I was able to audition for this, initially on tape, and then Tom Hanks saw the tape and I went to meet him at Playtone, at his offices. We had a chat and got on quite well. We talked about Shakespeare for a bit, and then the next thing I knew, yeah, I was having scooter lessons.
What were the scooter lessons like?
Mbatha-Raw: I didn’t even drive. I’ve only recently learned to drive a car, and so, I did drive a bicycle, but I’d never been on a scooter. So, yeah, it was fun. I learned to drive the scooter a little bit in London. I had a few lessons and then I had to do a sort of written test at the DMV to get my official Californian scooter permit to enable to drive when we were on the streets of L.A. I had some lessons in Griffith Park and we also did some group pack training because driving a scooter on your own is one thing, but driving when there’s sort of thirty other scooters weaving in and out of you is a different things, and then having to say your lines as well. So, yeah, it was quite a lot of multi-tasking, but it was great.
How was filming the classroom scenes?
Mbatha-Raw: Yeah, I was in the classroom, the economics classroom and so that was great fun. That was pretty much I think one of my first days on set, and so, yeah, it was great. I was trying to throw mobile phone because Talia takes Larry’s kind of old, rather dated mobile phone case and she throws it in the bin. It took several takes to actually get it in the bin because I had to throw it half the way across the room. So, yeah, that was a lot of tries, but it was great.
Did you have any memories from when you were a student while you were doing that scene? Were you an attentive student or were you more like your character?
Mbatha-Raw: I probably wasn’t quite as cocky as Talia. I was a pretty good student. I was sort of always quite interested in school. I think that Talia has got other things going on. She has dreams of setting up her own business and probably dominating the world of fashion one day. So, yeah, I think she sees college as a means to an end, to get her own business up and going. We’re slightly different, but it was certainly phone to play somebody who was a little bit more disinterested in the school scene.
How was working with Tom Hanks as an actor and as your director?
Mbatha-Raw: It was fantastic. Tom was wearing many hats in the production because not only had he co-written it with Nia Vardalos, but he was producing it with his company, Playtone, and acting and directing. So, it was quite a feat and very impressive. To me it was a first because I never worked with an actor who was directing me, but it was great because obviously Tom’s experience as an actor really informed his directing style. He really understands where actors are coming from, and so his approach is very much about making you feel very comfortable on the set. It’s a very nice, sort of open and jovial atmosphere and a lot of his directions come from the character’s point of view. He’s very much an actor’s director.
How was working with Julia Roberts, Wilmer Valderrama and the rest of the cast?
Mbatha-Raw: It was great. Such a phenomenal cast. Obviously, Julia Roberts who’s such a terrific actress, I’ve been a fan of hers for such a long time. So, that was a real treating, getting the chance to work with her and Pam Grier, as well. I had a few scenes with her, and Taraji Henson and Cedric the Entertainer. And Wilmer who plays my boyfriend in the show. So, yeah, it was a really great ensemble and it was a great atmosphere always on set.
Did you get to spend any time with or talk to Pam Grier or Taraji Henson?
Mbatha-Raw: Not really. It was just mainly when we were all working together on set. We didn’t really sort of hangout separately because the schedule was quite busy. We had a great time when we were working together.
How did you feel about that cancellation of ‘Undercovers’?
Mbatha-Raw: Well, I mean as far as ‘Undercovers’ is concerned, it was such a terrific experience for me. That was my first experience of working in America while doing Ophelia on Broadway. So, it really did open so many doors for me and it was a great opportunity, and if I hadn’t of done the pilot for that I probably wouldn’t have been doing ‘Larry Crowne’. I think that everything happens for a reason, and I learned a lot from the experience and met some wonderful people. So, it’s all good.
Now you’re back on the TV scene with ‘Touch.’ What’s your role in that show?
Mbatha-Raw: Well, I’m literally just starting the research and the sort of preproduction for ‘Touch’. It’s a terrific script. It’s very inspiring and quite a special story, a lot of stories woven together. It’s totally very different from anything that I’ve done before. Unlike ‘Larry Crowne’ which is very warm and has a comedic and romantic element to it, ‘Touch’ is much more of a drama. So, it’s great to be able to have a chance to do something a bit more serious. But as I say, ‘Larry Crowne’ is kind of a burst of sunshine in comparison. So, it’s great to be able to do a variety of genres.
You’ve done theater, you’ve done TV and films and now you’re going back to TV. Is TV easier to do than the others?
Mbatha-Raw: No, not at all. I think that everything brings its own challenges. I love the theater for the live audience element, and I’ve done ‘Larry Crowne’ and I just did my second film, ‘Odd Thomas’, as well which was more of an indie and a bit more supernatural in flavor. So, I really enjoy the variety. I think if you get a chance to work with good people you can learn from them. It gives you more choices in the future. So, for me, it’s about the material and the people that you’re working with. The genre or the actual medium is not so important because I like to mix it up. I think if you’re an actor it’s good to be able to turn your hand at anything.
You have a supernatural film coming up. What’s your role in ‘Odd Thomas’ and what’s the story about?
Mbatha-Raw: ‘Odd Thomas’ is based on a book by Dean Koontz and it’s just kind of a supernatural thriller. It has Anton Yelchin and Willem Dafoe. My character is from the book. She’s called Viola and she’s a waitress. Unlike Talia she’s not got such high ambitions in the fashion world, but she, as I say, is a waitress. The story centers on a guy who can see dead spirits and before people are about to die he can predict their death. So, again, a little more morbid than ‘Larry Crowne’, but it was a terrific experience.
What was it like working with 50 Cent? Had you listened to his music before?
Mbatha-Raw: I actually haven’t met him. We didn’t have any scenes together, and so even though he’s in the cast I haven’t had a chance to meet him, and I don’t think I will because our storylines and our schedules don’t correspond. Although, I’ve heard he’s great. I think he’s probably shooting it right now.
Are there other roles in your career that you still want to do?
Mbatha-Raw: Well, usually I want to do the opposite of what I did before, just for me, so that I don’t get bored. So, if I’ve just done something quite light then we usually want to try and do something a little darker and more intense. I think before I did ‘Undercovers’ I’d just been playing Ophelia for six months. So, playing a suicidal Shakespearean heroine was great, but it was really nice then to do something a little lighter and more escapist. In that way I think you keep yourself in balance well. You don’t get drained. One side of your soul doesn’t get drained and then you can keep fresh whenever you approach something new.
Some people say that once you’ve done a Shakespeare play you can do anything else in the theater world. Do you think that’s true?
Mbatha-Raw: Shakespeare is incredibly challenging just because of the language, and for me I went to RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) and I did study from a classical theater background. So, sure. It takes a little bit of dissecting with our modern ear, and also, we get so casual and language is always evolving. We get so casual with our language now. But I do think that Shakespeare can equip you for pretty much anything. It’s just so beautiful, and when you look at something like ‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare really did know his stuff, pre-Freud, pre any psychoanalysis that we know of today. He really did understand the human heart and psyche and was able to put it into the most eloquent poetry. I think as an actor, if you’re interested in people and the human condition then Shakespeare is a great place to start.
Why should anyone go out see ‘Larry Crowne’?
Mbatha-Raw: When I first read the script of ‘Larry Crowne’ I was just smiling from ear to ear. It really is just a very warm and sort of inspiring story, Larry Crowne and his journey, being someone who’s potentially lost everything. It’s all about how you look at it, and actually if you’re optimistic any situation can be turned around into a positive. It’s never too late reinvention. I think that’s the really lovely, positive message in the film. It’s very warmhearted and fun. You’ll laugh a lot, hopefully. I think it’ll make you smile.
