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LOS ANGELES, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Gugu Mbatha-Raw has joined the cast of Free State of Jones. The 31-year-old British actress will star alongside Matthew McConaughey, reports The Wrap. Mbatha-Raw will portray the former slave Rachel, with McConaughey as Newton Knight, a real-life Confederate Army deserter who led armed conflicts against the Confederacy.
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Free State of Jones is directed by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, The Hunger Games), and produced by Ross, Scott Stuber and Jon Kilik. The film will follow Knight's rebellion and eventual marriage to Rachel, and begin shooting in New Orleans in February.
Mbatha-Raw came to fame as Tish Jones on BBC series Doctor Who, and made her film debut in Larry Crowne in 2011. She recently starred as Dido Elizabeth Belle in Belle, a performance which earned her acclaim and a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star award.
McConaughey last portrayed Cooper in Christopher Nolan film Interstellar. The actor is scheduled for new Gus Van Sant movie The Sea of Trees with Naomi Watts, and will voice a character in animated feature Kubo and the Two Strings.
