And The Winner Is …

Following the dazzling turns in ‘Black Mirror’, ‘Fast Color’, and ‘The Morning Show’, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is taking the crown playing the first black Miss World. She tells Lydia Slater about fighting for feminism, embracing her heritage, and the secret of happiness in Hollywood.

- Lydia Slater

Opening the 1970 Miss World contest, the presenter Bob Hope was in a particularly ebullient mood. “I’m very, very happy to be here at this cattle market ... ” he leered into the tittering audience. “Moooooo!”

His enjoyment was short-lived; moments later, the clatter of a football rattle resounded around the Royal Albert Hall, and the stage was invaded by outraged women protesters, hurling flour and stink bombs. They forced the obnoxious Hope to flee from the set and disrupted the BBC’s broadcast in what has come to be seen as a watershed moment for feminism.

“I watched the whole ceremony and it’s shocking, particularly the bit where the women all have to turn round to show their bottoms ... ” says Gugu Mbatha-Raw, over lunch at a smart Marylebone restaurant. “It definitely makes you realise quite how far we’ve come.”

This particular Miss World contest is the subject of Gugu’s thought-provoking new drama, Misbehaviour. She takes the role of Jennifer Hosten, who, as Miss Grenada, became the first black woman to win the Miss World crown. “I came to [the part] with an air of judgement, of oh you know, beauty queens,” she admits, “but I’ve become more open-minded as to what that represents. I think it’s very easy now to look back and say, ‘Why would you do that? It’s so superficial.’ What’s interesting is that the rebellion can often be a luxury.” For her research into the film, Gugu visited Grenada to talk to Hosten. “She’s in her 70s now, and she’s got such a regal presence, such posture, these bright, bright eyes—she’s very demure, quite proper but very centred.”