As Possession Launches On Sky Today, Gugu Mbatha-Raw Takes Us Behind The Scenes

Vassi Chamberlain sits down with The Morning Show star Gugu Mbatha-Raw to discuss her new five-part series Possession, also starring Bel Powley and Johnny Lee Miller. For the full interview, pick up the Country & Town House September/October 2026 issue, on newsstands from Friday 4 September.

Gugu: ‘Possession is a thrilling show.’ (Sky)

C&TH Meets Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Gugu Mbatha-Raw is describing what it’s like getting back to normal life after weeks, sometimes months, working on a film set. ‘You know that scene in every space movie,’ she says, ‘when astronauts re-enter the earth’s atmosphere? They’re sweating and everything’s shaking and they’re thinking to themselves, “Are we going to make it?” and then they come through. That’s how it feels.’

The delicately beautiful 43-year-old, casually dressed in a pink shirt with her hair tied up, is telling me about her new supernatural thriller Possession, which has just dropped on Sky. She stars as an ambitious but brittle Bristol-based, biracial lawyer despatched to Jamaica to resolve an inheritance claim over an old plantation estate, which has historical links to colonial slavery.

‘It’s a thrilling show,’ she says. ‘Quite confronting but also entertaining, and hopefully done in a way that’s not hitting you over the head. For some people, there will be deeper conversations to be had afterwards. For others, it might be like: “Oh my gosh, that was cool. I want to go to Jamaica.”’

The five-part series, also starring Bel Powley and Jonny Lee Miller, perfectly aligns with Mbatha-Raw’s growing reputation for choosing roles that speak to her on both a personal and an intellectual level. Previous examples include her breakout role in the 2013 period drama film Belle, playing the illegitimate mixed-race daughter of a British naval officer, and the first series of The Morning Show, in which her character Hannah is sexually assaulted and later dies of a drug overdose.

Those choices reflect, along with her work as a global goodwill ambassador for UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), how Mbatha-Raw defines herself. Throughout our interview she comes across as carefully considered and fastidiously opaque – someone who quickly sidesteps any question not directly related to her craft. When Belle was released, Oprah Winfrey was quick to praise the show and, notably, her performance. ‘Is that when Oprah became your best friend?’ I ask, tempting my luck. ‘That is a vast overstatement,’ she immediately fires back, with a loud laugh. ‘She was very supportive of Belle when it came out. She and Gayle King became champions of it.’

Mbatha-Raw grew up in Witney, Oxfordshire, the only child of her South African doctor father (a former student campaigner against apartheid until he fled to the UK) and English nurse mother; her parents separated when she was one. She knew from an early age she wanted to perform, but also dedicated herself to her studies at her local comprehensive. ‘I was academic and always excelled at school,’ she says. ‘I enjoyed it for the social scene – there was always something going on – but I was also very busy with dance, drama and theatre. I feel like I did my A levels in my spare time.’

Gugu: ‘For some people, there will be deeper conversations to be had after watching Possession.’ (Sky)

After leaving school she first attended the National Youth Music Theatre, then enrolled at RADA. In 2005 she was offered the role of Juliet opposite Andrew Garfield as Romeo at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, followed by Ophelia in the 2009 West End and later Broadway productions of Hamlet, with Jude Law in the title role.

‘People sometimes ask: “What did you watch that made you want to become an actor?” It was really simple. I loved the feeling of performing. And my theatre friends were just more fun than my school ones in some ways. There was mischief and energy there.’

It was during Mbatha-Raw’s 2009 Broadway stint in Hamlet that she decided to decamp to LA, where she then lived on and off for ten years. Several Hollywood roles followed, including in the Tom Hanks-written romantic comedy Larry Crowne; in the Fox television series Touch opposite Kiefer Sutherland; and a starring role in the acclaimed ‘San Junipero’ episode of Black Mirror, which won two Emmy awards. She’s since appeared as a senior judge in the Marvel series Loki (in 2021 and 2023) alongside Tom Hiddleston and is currently in Apple TV series Surface, which she also executive produced.

She says it took her a while to trust Americans. ‘Everyone was so smiley and positive; I’d be waiting for that British cutting edge. I was like, “I can’t quite gauge if you’re being genuine or not.” I think that’s just a cultural thing. Then you find your people; I had a lot of British friends in LA and other actor friends, too.’

Who might those actors be, I ask. ‘Well,’ she says, ‘all different people at different times.’ How about Jennifer Aniston? ‘No, but she did invite us all round to hers when we were doing The Morning Show, which was lovely.’

Mbatha-Raw has never revealed if she is in a relationship or not, so I decide not to pry. When she gets stopped for a selfie, is she more David Beckham acquiescent, or Greta Garbo silent? ‘I’m more than happy if somebody wants to say something about something I’ve done. But I don’t love taking pictures.’ The one thing it must be harder to protect herself from are the critics. Does she ever read reviews? ‘Never. I think I’m too sensitive. I do what I do not for approval or a gold star, but because I love it. You have to make peace with the fact that it’s out of your hands.’

Possession is streaming now. (Sky)

Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars in Possession, with all five episodes available to stream on NOW. For the full interview, pick up the Country & Town House September/October 2026 issue, on newsstands Friday 4 September.

Fans can catch Gugu at Chelsea Arts Festival this September, as she joins Bernadine Evaristo for an evening exploring the richness of women’s writing, presented by The Women’s Prize. Find out more at chelseaartsfestival.com

Credits

• Dress: Victoria Beckham
• Fashion director: Nicole Smallwood
• Photographer: David Reiss
• Fashion assistant: Alice Dench
• Photographer’s assistant: Stefania Carli
• Make up: Kenneth Soh @ A-Frame Agency using CAIA Cosmetics and Aestura
• Hair: Bjorn Krischker at The Wall Group using Oribe
• Hair assistant: Danielle van Cuyck
• Video: Tracer Ital @ Adrenalin Photographic