This article talks about topics including stillbirth and baby loss.
Minor The Girl Before spoilers also follow.
The Girl Before star Gugu Mbatha-Raw has explained to Digital Spy why she was "relieved" to let go of the intense show after filming finished.
Loki actress Mbatha-Raw's four-part drama wraps up tonight (December 22) with the end of the twisty-turny mystery of her character Jane Cavendish's ties to another couple (EastEnders' Jessica Plummer and Ben Hardy) and the architect (Star Wars' David Oyelowo) who built their high-tech home.
Related: The Girl Before star discusses the show's challenging but important subject matter
The series tackles challenging subject matter, including stillbirth and baby loss, so Mbatha-Raw was understandably ready to move on to lighter subject matter when completing the series.
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"It was an intense schedule, and I think dealing with the issues that Jane has been through – I felt a responsibility to honour those, and also to honour her grief and her journey, to try to do as much research as I could for someone in her situation," she said.
"But also, I wasn't in character all the time in a method sense. But I do think that when you're filming over an intense period, you do carry just the energy and the weight of a story with you. You know every day that Jane isn't someone who smiles and laughs a lot – but I am. So for me to be able to contain a lot of my natural energy for the character was an interesting challenge. But that's part of the job.
Related: EastEnders star Jessica Plummer explains why The Girl Before role was very daunting
"For me at the end of it, it wasn't difficult to let Jane – in some ways, it was a relief to let her go, not because it was… I really enjoyed playing her, but I felt like there was an element where just to get back to me and a more carefree energy, was nice after the intense journey that she's been."
For Mbatha-Raw, her work went beyond bringing a character from JP Delaney's novel of the same name to screens because she was also a producer on the project.
"As well as acting, for the first time, I have an associate producer role on this show. So that was a new challenge, in a way, in terms of having a seat at the table, and the conversations with the producers around casting and the script tweaks, and all of that kind of thing," she told us.
"So for me that was a new challenge, running up to the production, but a really interesting one, and one that I have sort of relished learning from – learning from our incredible producers at 42, and Rhonda Smith."
The Girl Before is available to stream on the BBC iPlayer, and will stream on HBO Max in the US.
Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
