Starting today, you can watch Gugu Mbatha-Raw break your heart in the surprisingly lovely Black Mirror episode “San Junipero.” And soon, she’ll help bring your childhood to life in Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time. DuVernay announced on Twitter yesterday that Mbatha-Raw would be playing Dr. Murry, the scientist mother of the young heroine Meg, set to be portrayed by youngster Storm Reid:
We’d take issue with Mbatha-Raw’s swift transition from ingenue to matriarch, but the whole “brilliant scientist” thing and the source material pretty much negates those concerns. Meg’s missing father, yet to be cast, is, in part, the tale’s McGuffin. The news was first reported by Variety. DuVernay’s Disney production has already lined up a starry cast worthy of Madeleine L’Engle’s text. The trio of Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling will be playing the tesseract-touting witches Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Who, respectively.