Gugu Mbatha-Raw is to star in 'A Wrinkle In Time'.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

The 33-year-old British actress - whose credits include roles in 'Concussion', 'Doctor Who' and 'Black Mirror' - has been cast by director Ava DuVernay in the new Disney movie, an adaptation of the popular 1962 science fiction novel of the same name by Madeleine L'Engle which kicked off her 'Time Quartet' series of books.

Gugu joins a star-studded line-up for the film which includes Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Oprah Winfrey and 13-year-old Storm Reid.

The plot - adapted from the tome by Jennifer Lee - follows the Murry family, in particular Meg (Storm), her genius five-year-old brother Charles Murry and Meg's classmate Calvin O'Keefe, as they look for their missing scientist father.

A visit from a mysterious old lady called Mrs. Whatsit (Reese) reveals that their father's latest research has been successful and he is travelling in space and time. The trio of kids then follow his journey to the planet Camazotz, ruled by a giant evil brain called The Black Thing.

Gugu will portray Dr. Kate Murry, Meg's scientist mother and her casting has been confirmed by DuVernay on Twitter.

The 44-year-old filmmaker tweeted: "'Don't hope it was a dream.' Thrilled to confirm that Gugu Mbatha-Raw has joined #TeamWrinkle as Dr. Murry, Meg's mom + brilliant scientist. (sic)"

Gugu will next be seen on the big screen in sci-fi thriller 'God Particle', which hits cinemas next February, and she has just wrapped shooting on Disney's live-action version of 'Beauty and the Beast' in which she plays Plumette alongside Emma Watson as Belle. The highly anticipated movie comes out on March 17.

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